Category: Aquatic Mammals

Giant Otter

The Giant otter is one of the rarest freshwater otter species and they grow to a size of a massive one and a half a metre length, not including the tail. These large creatures live in Brazil, Guiana. Small but dying populations also inhabit Argentina and Uruguay. The Giant Otter is about 2,1 metres long,

California Sea Lion

California Sea Lion is one of the most the most elegant underwater mammals. Its swimming style, changing direction frequently, looks almost like and underwater flight. These sea mammals are excellent swimmers – they can reach a speed of more than 40 km/h and dive as deep as 300 metres. California Sea Lions can be seen

Muskrat

The Muskrat is sometimes confused with a young beaver, because they have a similar appearance and swimming styles. The Muskrat can, however, be distinguished by its long, massive tail, which is covered in scales. The tail can be as long as the rest of the body, that is, 28 – 45 cm. The main difference

Leopard Seal

Leopard Seal lives in the freezing Arctic waters, also it can wind up in territories far more to the north like South America, New Zealand and Australia. Leopard seals spend most of the time in the water. Sometimes they abandon water and appear on ice. Leopard Seals are equipped with sharp teeth, which how they

Eurasian Water Shrew

The Eurasian Water Shrew known by the brits simply as the Water Shrew is a fairly common rodent. It usually grows to be up to 10 centimeters (4 in) long. Its tail can be up to 75% as long as the shrew itself. The fur of this rodent traps bubbles of air increasing buoyancy to a level

American Manatee

The American Manatee may not be one of the most beautiful animals, but they are one of the few mammalian species that eat underwater vegetation. Having suffered greatly from hunting, the manatees are currently one of the most endangered sea creatures. American Manatees live in tropical and subtropical seas in the waters adjacent to the

Sperm Whale

Like all whales, the Sperm Whale is a mammal, with it’s natural habitat in the seas and they can be seen in every ocean of the world, in both topic and cool oceans. It can grow up to 20.5 metres (67 ft) and is the largest toothed animal in the world. Sperm Whales can easily be

Franciscana

The Franciscana is one of the worlds smallest dolphins and can be found off of the east coast of South America. These bashful dolphins share many physical traits with river dolphins despite the fact that they are not closely related at all. There is currently not much information available on the population of the Franciscana

Dugong

The Dugong or otherwise known as the ‘sea cow’ is a mammal that lives exclusively underwater and has close genetic ties to the elephant despite its appearance. The Dugong feeds only on sea grass found on the ocean and this is one of the reasons the Dugong is currently classed as vulnerable due to human

Amazonian manatee

The Amazonian manatee is the only fresh water manatee in the world and is found only in the Amazon river basin. This unique species of manatee is currently classed as vulnerable and the exact population numbers are unknown. The last population estimate on the Amazonian manatee was just over 30 years ago where there was

Fur Seal

The name given to these guys just about says it all. Fur seals are beautiful marine mammals that have been hunted for the fur they are wearing, so that someone else could wear it too. They have a lovely coat of very fine and thick hair that is well suited for their lives in colder

Southern Elephant Seal

Known for being the largest pinniped as well as the biggest member of the Carnivora order, the elephant seal is one of just two species of the animal.  This species was named for its massive size as well as the big proboscis that is seen on the adult males.  This proboscis is used to make

Platypus

Platypus is mostly prevalent to Eastern Australia in Tasmania. It is a semi-aquatic mammal. It is one of the five species of monotremes. They are known as the only mammals that lay eggs rather than giving birth to the juvenile. In short, it is the sole representative of the family and genus, though quite a

Sea Otter

The sea otter is one of the very smallest marine mammals, and spends most of its life in the sea. Males weigh about 100 pounds and are about five feet long, while the females are smaller weighing about 60-75 pounds and measure just about 3-4 feet long. The sea otters have the thickest fur of