The walrus, also know as the saber-tooth seal, is a large flippered mammal. Walrus means gregarious marine animal and is related to eared seals as both animals have two large down-pointing tusks. The walrus’s scientific name is Odobenus rosmarus. The walrus also has mustache. Walruses live in the Arctic. Walruses tusks are very helpful. They can haul big animal bodies out of water (i.e. tooth walking) and they also use their tusks to break holes in the ice. Walruses tusks can grow up to 3 feet for both male and female (National Geographic).
The walrus population is 250,000 animals. There are 200,000 walruses in the Pacific; however, the walrus population is decreasing due to hunters (Defenders). Walruses change color from pink to a lighter cinnamon brown to a lighter shade, when they go into colder water. When the walrus gets hot, blood pumps into its blubber and its skin and gets cooled by the air or water. When they get cold, they can reduce the blood flow to the skin and blubber to save heat. Walruses are able to adjust their temperature surroundings with their bool circular system (Library Thinkquest).
Newborns have a thin layer of blubber and are covered with a coat of short gray hairs which comes in handy since they are born on ice floes. Walruses can't see very well, but their hearing and sense of smell is really good. Walruses touch is very important because walruses are very social (Environmental Giraffe).
The two different types of walruses are the Atlantic walrus and the Pacific walrus. The Atlantic walrus inhabit coastal areas from northern eastern Canada and the Pacific walrus inhabit the northern seas off Russia and Alaska . The Atlantic walrus is bigger than the Pacific walrus (National Geographic).
Walrus tusks a...
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... the polar bear. The polar bear kills the walrus when it is on land were as the orca whale kills it when it is in the water swimming (Wheats).
Humans use walrus for many things. One, Humans eat this animal. Two, they use this animal for light in oil lamps. Three, its skin is durable so it covers big boats and its tusks make lance or spear points or are carved into a great variety of useful and ornamental objects (Library Thinkquest).
Only Native Americans can hunt walruses, as the species survival was threatened in the past by overhunting. Their tusks, oil, and meat were so sought after in the 18th and 19th centuries that walrus was hunted to extinction in the gulf of St. Lawrence and around Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia. Walruses are very interesting animals and they deserve so much more attention. They are really cool animals. (National Geographic).
For years, we have heard of the devastating effects of global warming and how the melting of the polar ice caps will cause severe climate changes. One animal that has suffered most from global warming is the polar bear. Global warming has caused the polar bear population to decrease due to the results of having to swim longer distances, loss of habitat, and lack of mates to reproduce offspring. Global warming has caused this species to become endangered and has some attention with social media. Global warming has caused much damage to the polar bear population due to the warming of their habitat.
Unlike most other whales, Narwhals have no dorsal fin, instead they have a low bumpy ridge that begins at about the midpoint of the back and continues to the fluke#. Tusks The tusks, giving Narwhals the name, “Sea Unicorn”, is actually a tooth that can reach up to nine feet long and can weigh up to 20 pounds. Males and females are born with two teeth pointing forward in the upper jaw. The left tooth of the male grows long and spirals counter clockwise toward the tip.
Orcas, or killer whales are majestic giants of the sea. They are actually the largest type of dolphin. They have long black bodies with distinct white patches near their eyes. A killer whale can be up to 32 feet or more in length, and weigh up to 12,000 pounds. Females are a bit smaller, but live longer (Gorman). The name “killer whale” apparently came not because it is a vicious whale, but because it preys on whales. They do not have any natural predators, and they are considered the “top dog” of the ocean. Not even the great white shark stands a chance against these superb killers. “Unlike sharks, killer whales are cautious hunters, sometimes spending hours harassing a 1,000-pound sea lion so it can easily be drowned” (Francis). Orcas use many hunting tactics that are unique to their species, which is what makes them invincible.
Whales living in captivity become aggravated and have been known to take out anger on themselves by self harming. In the pools they live in, metal bars are placed in between the pools to prevent the killer whales from swimming to another pool. On several occurrences, the whales have attempted to bite and break the metal bars. This leaves the whales with broken teeth and a risk of infection. Infections in killer whales can lead to death in many cases. If a whale gets an infection, they have to be taken out of the pool and placed into another pool by themselves to prevent any problems with other killer whales they live with. In many cases, whales with infections need serious care from whale specialists.
Their dorsal fin is extremely long, tampered and pointed in a triangular shape or rounded and curved towards the end. The skull is oval shaped and the beak is extremely short and rounded at the end. The killer whale’s jaw is powerful with teeth that are able to tear apart flesh of their prey. They can withstand the jolting, wiggling and hurtling movements of prey that are trying to escape. The killer whale is born with a single blow hole instead of two. Their flippers are paddle shaped with rounded ends and flukes are tapered back and pointed at the end resembling to a triangle/pyramid
A lot of people think that humans are the only ones killing Arctic wolves, but that is not the case. Arctic wolves most dangerous threat is humans, but they are also being killed by gobal warming for melting there habitat to water and since there are less of them now polar bears have a bigger advantages to hunt them down.
In the front of the head is the melon. Its melon transmits sound waves that help it see at night to helping it catch its prey. Killer whales have sharp, cone-shaped teeth made for ripping and tearing prey. The Killer Whale has no sense of smell because there is a part of their brain missing that is missing. The sense of smell goes unused because they spend most of the time in the ocean. The blowhole helps the Killer Whale to breathe; the blowhole flap provides a watertight seal. To open its blowhole, a killer whale relaxes the muscle covering the hole (SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment).
Out of an Ice Age emerged one of our most majestic creatures in the world the polar bear. From its brown bear ancestry, the predator evolved to be a master of a harsh and unwelcoming ice kingdom. Intelligent, adaptable and fierce, the polar bear learned how to survive in a place that offers few comforts to any creature. But now that very environment is in flux. And so is the polar bear’s fate (Nature). Polar Bears are very different from other bears. Polar bears are very large bears compared to Black bears. Polar bears weigh anywhere between 330-1700lbs and Black bears weigh anywhere between 150-600lbs. They have strong legs with large, flattened feet with some webbing between their toes that help with walking on ice and swimming. The wide paws prevent sea ice from breaking by distributing weight while walking. Their paws allow them to pull a 600 pound seal out of its breathing hole (Rosing, 20). The webbed feet results in making polar bears, unlike other bear species to be considered as marine mammals along with seals, sea lions, walruses, whales and dolphins (Polar Bear). According to Rosing Polar bears are excellent swimmers and have been known to swim up to six miles an hour and as far as 60 miles at a stretch. The bears paddle with their front feet and steer with their back feet. They often overheat. Sometimes they venture into the waters just to cool off. When a bear climbs on an ice floe, it shakes itself off because it is trying to prevent ice from forming on its fur (22-23). Because of climate change and hunting of polar bears are now becoming an endangered species which is affecting the food chain. We can fix this by going green, banning polar bear hunting and keep creating these new hybrid bears that are mixed with griz...
- Pagano, A. M., G. M. Durner, S. C. Amstrup, K. S. Simac, and G. S. York. 2012. Long-distance swimming by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea during years of extensive open water: Canadian Journal of Zoology 90:663-676. doi: 10.1139/z2012-033http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z2012-033#.UxOE1ZWPLoo
There are many different ways in which these hunters killed the whitetail deer in the past and still use some of these objects and methods today. Blunt objects, clubs, spears, knives, axes, harpoons, bow and arrow, traps, snares and guns are some of the objects used for hunting. The Native Americans’ main way of killing deer was bow and arrow. Native American’s methods of hunting were used for centuries. The arrival of the Europeans vastly altered the hunting process. The Native Americans understood hunting, and that is what they did best. Native Americans only hunted what they needed. The entire carcass was used and the other resources were not wasted. From the web site Le Moyne Pictures, a French explorer describes the Native Americans, "The Indians, when hunting deer, used ingenuity such as we had never seen before…” (Le Moyne Index 1994). A clever invention of these Indians was to modify the carcasses of the deer into disguises (1994). This innovation allowed the Indians to get very close to the deer. The disguises made killing them a lot easier with bows and arrows. According to the article, “How the Indians Hunt Deer,” the Native Americans were described as being skillful, “they were able to remove the deer skin and prepare it without any metal knife, just shells, with such skill that I doubt there was anyone in the whole of Europe who could do it better” (1994...
Blue whales tend to feed on krills in cold water at high latitudes during the summer time (WWF). On other hand during
The most unique feature of the platypus is the soft and pliable bill. The bill surface is perforated with openings that contain nerve endings, which allow the animal to locate food and aid movement under water. These pores contain two types of sensory receptors: mechanoreceptors, which respond to tactile pressure, and electroreceptors, which respond to electric fields. The eyes and ear openings are located behind the bill in a muscular groove, which contracts and closes as the platypus dives (Griffiths, 1998). The nostrils are positioned towards the tip of the bill and are slightly elevated upwards to allow breathing whilst the body is beneath the surface (Figure 1).
peregrines range across the treeless regions of Alaska and Canada. They are also found in
Humpback whales breath voluntarily, unlike humans. Since they have to remember to breath, researchers believe humpbacks sleep by shutting off half of their brain at a time. Like orcas and dolphins, humpback whales have noses at the top of their head called blowholes (Animal Planet). Humpback whale calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old (National Geographic). They breed, give birth and care for their newborn calves in the warm waters of Tonga. Instead of teeth, humpbacks have baleen plates, they are brush-like strands of bristle that trap there food until it is swallowed. They have very odd mouths that curve downwards, like an eternal frown. Humpback whales are amazing marine mammals (Big Animal Expeditions)
Polar bears also prey on young walrus’s. The remains of whale, seal, and walrus are also important sources of food for polar bears. In fact, because of their acute sense of smell, polar bears can sense animal remains from far away.