ENDANGERED

MARINE
SPECIES
SID P.

(WITH RELIABLE
INFORMATION FROM:)
“Don’t worry, there’s a lot of ways you can help us!”
TABLE OF
WHALES:

The Blue Whale… 5

CONTENTS:
The Sei Whale… 6
The North Atlantic Right Whale… 7

DOLPHIN AND PORPOISE:

(ALL THE TITLES HERE ARE HYPERLINKED.
DOUBLE CLICK!) The Vaquita… 9
Hector’s Dolphin… 10

TURTLES:

The Green Turtle… 12

The Hawksbill Turtle… 13

FISH:

The Humphead Wrasse… 15

Bigeye Tuna… 16

ANIMALS:

The Sea Lion… 18

CORAL:

Elkhorn Coral… 20
Staghorn Coral… 21
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WHALES
BLUE WHALE SCIENTIFIC NAME: Balaenoptera musculus

“Hi! I’m a blue whale. Everybody says i’m
a chatterbox, because i’m really noisy,
our calls reach about 188 decibels. A jet
engine only reaches 140!”
STATUS: Endangered
POPULATION: 10, 000 to 20, 000 individuals
CAN BE FOUND: Southern Chile, Gulf of California,
and the Coral Triangle.

THREATS: Whaling, climate change (impact on

krill, habitat loss, and toxins), ship strikes, and
entanglement in gear.

“I don’t really have teeth, these are called

baleens. My diet mainly consists of krill,
they’re very tiny. These filter the krill in,
and the water out when I swallow. Whales
like me are called ‘Baleen whales’.”

“I’m the largest animal to ever exist, and i’m quite

proud of it. I am 30 meters long, and I can weigh up
to 200 tonnes. That’s about 30 elephants! But we’re
really healthy, we can live about 80- 90 years.”

“Did you know, there used to be about 350, 000 of us

before whaling was discovered? Humans took a big
notice to us once they discovered our bodies
contained a lot of oil to help us float...”
SEI WHALE
“I’m also a baleen whale, and I choose to swim
on my side through clouds of krill and other
prey. It may look weird, but it’s exceptionally
effective. I can eat up to 900 kg of food a day!”
“Hello. My name is pronounced as ‘SAY’ whale. Like,
‘Say, Whale. Don’t I look dashing?’ It’s the same
word as pollock in Norwegian. The locals noticed “I prefer to be alone or with
that we arrived the same time each year.” my small pod, and I don’t
really like the cold. But I
don’t mind hanging out
with other whales as long
as there’s something to
eat.”

“One of the fastest whales, I can reach

speeds of up to 55 km/h! I’m a shallow
diver, and stay underwater for about 5 to 15
minutes at a time. You’re likely to see me in
the not- so- cold regions!”

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Balaenoptera borealis

STATUS: Endangered

POPULATION: 80, 000 individuals

CAN BE FOUND: Southern Chile, the Arctic, the Gálapagos, Coral Triangle, Gulf
of California, and Coastal East Africa.

THREATS: Whaling, climate change, shipping strikes, and entanglement in

fishing gear.
 NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE
“Hey, I’m a North- Atlantic Right Whale. My name is long, “Some scientists say that my
but my history is important.” species has gone extinct in some
places, we can only survive only
along the east coast of the U.S.
and Canada. It’s sad to think
about how my ancestors have
been hurt.”

“My most defining feature

are my callouses, they are “I’m a lot skinnier than my other
very noticeable on my dark counterparts, such as the Argentina or
grey body. But they are Australia Right Whales. I need more to
normal! Don’t worry.” eat!”

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Eubalaena glacialis

STATUS: Endangered

POPULATION: 366 individuals

CAN BE FOUND: The East Coasts of the U.S and

Canada.

THREATS: Whaling, climate change, ship collisions,

shipping traffic, and entanglement in gear.
DOLPHIN AND
PORPOISE

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Phocoena sinus
STATUS: Critically Endangered
POPULATION: About 10 individuals
CAN BE FOUND: Gulf of California, Gulf
of Mexico.
THREATS: Bycatch, illegal trade for
Totaboa, leftover “ghost” nets, and
entanglement in gear.
VAQUITA
“Umm, hi? I’m a Vaquita. I’m really shy,
but can you blame me? We’re the most
endangered marine mammals. That’s
not good.”
“Unlike other porpoise, I
don’t have a beak. That’s
fine, because I mainly eat
small fish, crustaceans,
and cephalopods.”
“We have the smallest
geographical range of any
marine mammal. Only
consisting of the northern
part of the Gulf of California in
Mexico and the Delta of the
Colorado River Biosphere.”
“My dorsal fin is tall and
wide for a porpoise. It
helps me reduce my body
temperature, and keep
cool in the warmer
waters where I live.”
“I might look like a
baby, but i’m five feet
long! That’s probably
taller than you!”
“We tend to stay away from boats,
swim slowly near the surface, and
travel only by ourselves or in pairs.
This makes us very hard to
observe.”
 HECTOR’S DOLPHIN
“I’m Hector’s Dolphin, and
i’m both the smallest and
rarest dolphin in the whole
wide world!”
“I wasn’t kidding when I
said i’m small for a
dolphin... I’m only four feet
long! How tall are you?”

“Gillnets are a type of fine “I have a subspecies, called

mesh nets, they are dangerous Maui’s dolphin. But there’s
for dolphins because we can’t only about 55 left in the
detect them at all.” world. That’s so sad.”

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cephalorhynchus

hectori

STATUS: Endangered

POPULATION: Estimated at 7000

individuals

CAN BE FOUND: Shallow waters along the

coasts of New Zealand’s North Island.

THREATS: Bycatch, boat collision, pollution,

coastal development, and sea mining
TURTLES
 GREEN TURTLE
“I’m the only herbivore among all
the different species of turtles.
Pretty cool, right?”

“Hi there! I’m a Green Turtle, like

the green on my cartilage and
fat, not the color of my shell.”

“Although, my shell is very “I eat seagrass and algae,

important for me to live, humans and it’s like I mow the lawn,
really like the material. It’s used because the seagrass
for jewelry and other souvenirs.” grows back healthier.”

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Chelonia Mydas

STATUS: Endangered

POPULATION: 85, 000 to 90, 000 individuals

CAN BE FOUND: Mesoamerican Reef, Gulf of California, Coastal

East Africa, and the Coral Triangle.

THREATS: Overharvesting, Illegal trade, bycatch, pollution, habitat

loss, entanglement in gear.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Eretmochelys imbricata HAWKSBILL
STATUS: Critically Endangered

POPULATION: 57, 000 to 83, 000 individuals

TURTLE
“Sup. I’m a Hawksbill Turtle.
CAN BE FOUND: Mesoamerican Reef, Coastal I’m known for the overlapping “But my most
East Africa, and the Coral Triangle. scales on my shell. They look… popular feature is
sharp (get it?)” my pointed beak
THREATS: Illegal trade, bycatch, loss of habitat, (like a bird’s).”
excessive egg collection, pollution, coastal
development, entanglement in gear, and
accidental capture on fishing hooks.

“We live on coral reefs and

eat the sponges there, it’s
easy for our beaks to reach.
But i’m cool with sea
anemone and jellyfish as a
snack too.”
“Did you know that sea
turtles represent a group of
reptiles which wandered
the seas for 100 million
years?”
FISH
 HUMPHEAD
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cheilinus undulatus WRASSE “Hello there.
We Humphead
Wrasse are
known quite
STATUS: Endangered “I’m an enormous fish, about
literally for the
six feet long and weigh over
large humps on
POPULATION: Decreasing, unknown 400 pounds. Plus, I can live
our forehead.”
longer than 30 years.”
CAN BE FOUND: Coral Triangle,
Southeast Asia, and Coastal East Africa.

THREATS: Overfishing, bycatch, and

habitat loss.

“Live reef fish trade is a big

problem in Southeast Asia.
Poachers use methods which
are legal, but really
dangerous for the reef. It
needs to stop. I’m a very
expensive fish, which would
normally be a compliment,
but…”
“My prey always have hard
shells. Such as mollusks,
starfish, or crustaceans. I find
them lurking around the
coral reefs.”
BIGEYE TUNA “Hello, I’m a bigeye tuna. Did
you know that I can weigh up
“I’m about 7 feet to 120 kg? I promise, I cut
long as an adult!” down on the crustaceans, i’m
still very fast!”

“I have metallic blue scales, and

my fins are different shades of “This is my family,
yellow. I look awfully a lot like altogether we’re
my relative, the yellowfin tuna.” called a float. Neat
name, right?”

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Thunnus obesus

STATUS: Vulnerable

POPULATION: Less than target population, otherwise unknown.

CAN BE FOUND: Any subtropical or tropical ocean areas, but not

in the Mediterranean.

THREATS: Overfishing, bycatch for other species of tuna such as

skipjack tuna, and entanglement in gear.
ANIMALS

(Follow this link to the WWF’s endangered marine species directory instead!)
SEA LIONS
“Welcome to my rock! I’m a sea
lion. Not to be confused with a
seal, our ears and fins are much
larger than theirs. Unlike them,
we can actually walk. But… we’re
way louder. We bark a lot.”
“We’re the most popular
mammal in the Gálapagos! It’s so
cool!”
“Species that accidentally
come near our habitat, which
shouldn’t be there, can cause SCIENTIFIC NAME: Zalophus
widespread disease. So be wollebaeki
careful when traveling with
pets or plants!” STATUS: Endangered
POPULATION: Undetermined across
six species (one has already gone
extinct).
CAN BE FOUND: The Gálapagos,
Gulf of California.
THREATS: Disease (introduced
species), climate change, ocean
currents, bycatch, and
entanglement in gear.
“We chill and pile out in large
colonies on rocks and sandy
beaches. When it gets too hot,
we move back into the water for
a while and come back. It’s
usually a good life. ”
CORAL AND
PLANTS
ELKHORN CORAL SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acropora palmata
“We form groups called thickets,
which are very dense and STATUS: Critically endangered
“We’re Elkhorn Coral! Our provide habitats for reef animals
colors come from the algae like fish.” POPULATION: 97% decrease in the 1980’s
which live inside of our due to White Band disease, otherwise
tissue. ” indeterminable.

CAN BE FOUND: Coral reefs throughout

the Bahamas, Florida, and the Caribbean.

THREATS: Climate change, ship collision,

disease, unsustainable fishing, loss of
habitat, pollution, and land based
pollution.

“Our branches are

nearly round, and
can grow up to 15
inches long, and
between 1 and 2
inches thick. Each of “There used to be an entire reef
us in a colony look zone named after us, since we
exactly the same, were that popular. But a disease
isn’t that neat?” that got out of hand, white band
disease, killed most of our
tissue.”
 STAGHORN CORAL
“Staghorn coral here, reporting “Each of our colonies can grow up to
live from the Caribbean reef. We 4 feet tall and around six feet wide.
practically built it.” As we interlock, we can protect the
shore from large waves and storms.”

“Another threat we face is ocean

acidification. This is when the pH in the
water decreases due to unnecessary
carbon dioxide. It prevents us from
building a healthy skeleton, so be vary of
global warming and climate change…”
“We eat through the photosynthesizing algae inside
of our cells, or from catching plankton. Due to
something called Coral Bleaching, we can starve
because we lost some of our algae.”

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acropora cervicornis

STATUS: Critically Endangered

POPULATION: 97% decrease in the 1980’s due to White Band disease,

otherwise indeterminable.

CAN BE FOUND: The Caribbean reefs.

THREATS: Climate change, ship collision, disease, unsustainable fishing,

loss of habitat, pollution, and land based pollution.
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