Sea Living Creatures

What are dolphins?

CHARACTERISTICS:
- small-toothed, easily recognizable by their curved mouths, which
give them a permanent “smile”
- Most dolphins are marine and live in the ocean along coastlines
- Dolphins feed mainly on fish and squid
FUN FACT:
The largest dolphin, the orca, can grow to be over 30 feet long. The
smallest, the Maui dolphin, is just five feet long.
What are sharks?
CHARACTERISTICS:
- sharks have mouths lined with multiple rows of individual teeth that fall out and grow back
which come in all sizes and shapes, like a razor to triangular like a spear
- Sharks are found in deep and shallow waters throughout the world’s oceans
- Most sharks eat smaller fish and invertebrates, but some of the larger species prey on seals,
sea lions, and other marine mammals.

FUN FACT:
A. Whale sharks, the largest fish species on Earth, can grow to more than 55 feet, while dwarf
lantern sharks reach a mere eight inches.
B. Sharks have been around for more than 400 million years—long before the dinosaurs
What are whales?
CHARACTERISTICS:
- Whales are the largest animals on Earth and they live in every ocean.
- Whales are warm-blooded creatures
- Whales evolved from land-living mammals, and must regularly surface to
breathe air, although they can remain under water for long periods of time.

FUN FACT:
The massive mammals range from the 600-pound dwarf sperm whale to the
colossal blue whale, which can weigh more than 200 tons and stretch up to 100
feet long—almost as long as a professional basketball court.
Dwarf Sperm Whale, Colossal Blue Whale,
and Whale Shark
 What is a FISH and a MAMMAL?
FISH
a. All fish are cold-blooded.
b. They have gills to breathe and filter oxygen from the water.
c. Sharks are a special type of fish known because their body is
made out of cartilage instead of bones like other fish.
MAMMAL
a. Are warm-blooded vertebrate animals
b. Dolphins and whales are examples of mammals
c. Whales and dolphins are mammals and breathe air into their lungs, just like
we do. They cannot breathe underwater like fish can as they do not have
gills. They breathe through nostrils, called a blowhole, located right on top
of their heads.
Can humans eat shark, dolphin, whale?
- shark meat is legal for consumption in the United States but their meat can be
terribly unhealthy because of high content of mercury in their body
- Dolphin meat is considered to be safe for consumption by many cultures, but
research shows that most of these cultures are eating fish that can poison
them due to the high mercury levels that are present in the dolphin meat.
- In the U.S., on the other hand, the sale of whale meat is illegal.
- Whale meat is consumed in Norway, Japan, some Caribbean nations, Russia,
Canada, and the state of Alaska—either for cultural, or commercial reasons
yet still unhealthy for humans because of mercury content
VOCABULARY:

Marine
- Animals that live in the ocean or sea
Warm- blooded
- Maintain a body temperature higher than their environment
Cold – blooded
- having a body temperature varying with that of the environment
Invertebrates
- Animals with no backbone
Vertebrates
- Animals with backbone
Cartilage
- Soft tissue of the body
Mercury
- An ocean particle transformed into microorganisms. This organic form of mercury is absorbed by the tissues of fish through their gills as they
swim and through their digestive tracts as they feed. Human absorption of mercury can cause insomnia, memory loss, headaches, and tremors.