Oceanography Exam 3 – Flashcards
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What is a tide?
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The rhythmic rise and fall of sea level.
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Is a tide a wave?
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Yes! Tides are very long and regular shallow-water waves.
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What causes tides?
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Gravitational attraction of the sun, moon and earth.
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How do we compute gravitational force?
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Fg=G(m1*m2)/r^2
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According to Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, what happens to gravitational force if mass increases?
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Gravitational force increases.
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According to Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, what happens to gravitational force if distance increases?
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Gravitational force decreases.
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What does Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation tell us?
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Every object that has mass in the universe is attracted to every other object.
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How does gravity change as two objects move farther apart from one another?
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Gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of the radius of separation.
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What is the Nadir?
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The point on Earth at any given point in time which is furthest from the moon and experiences the least gravitational force.
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What is the Zenith?
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The point on Earth at any given point in time which is closest from the moon and experiences the greatest gravitational force.
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What is Centripetal Force?
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The center-seeking force which tethers the Earth and Moon to each other.
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Does the moon orbit the earth?
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Not exactly. The moon and earth actually rotate around the barycenter of the system.
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What is the barycenter of the Earth-moon system?
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Common center of mass which acts as the balance point of the system.
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Where is the barycenter located? Why?
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1600 km beneath Earth's surface. This is because Earth's mass is much greater than that of the Moon.
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What is a resultant force? What does it do to tides?
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The difference between centripetal force and gravitational force. It pushes water into tidal bulges on each side of the Earth.
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What forces produce tides? How?
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Tides occur when there is an imbalance between the required centripetal and provided gravitational forces acting on Earth. The resultant force creates tidal bulges.
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What are lunar bulges?
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On the ideal Earth, there are two tidal bulges--one near the moon and one away from the moon.
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What are the characteristics of the Ideal Ocean?
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Uniform depth, no friction between seawater and sea floor.
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At the equator of an ideal Earth, what would tides be like?
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There would be two high tides that would be 12 hours apart.
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What is the flood tide?
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High tide--seawater moves on shore.
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What is the ebb tide?
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Low tide--seawater moves offshore.
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What is a lunar day? How long is it? How does this affect tides?
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Time for the moon to orbit Earth once. 24 hours, 50 minutes long. Causes high tides to be 12 hours and 25 minutes apart.
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How does the Sun affect tides?
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Creates solar bulges which are much smaller than lunar bulges--one near the sun, one away from the sun.
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As the distance between the moon or sun and Earth increases, how do tide generating forces change?
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As distance increases, forces will decrease by the inverse of the cube of the distance between the moon or sun and the Earth.
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How does the gravitational force exerted on Earth's tides by the Moon compare to that exerted by the Sun?
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Moon exerts more than twice the gravitational pull of the Sun on tides.
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What causes high and low tides?
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Earth's rotation carries various locations into and out of the tidal bulges, which are in fixed positions relative to the moon and sun.
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What is the Tidal Range?
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The vertical difference between high and low tides.
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What is a Spring tide? How long is the period between spring tides?
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Occurs during new or full moons. Characterized by the greatest tidal range. There are two weeks them.
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What causes a New Moon?
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Moon is between the Earth and Sun, so can't be seen from Earth.
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What causes a Full Moon?
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Moon and Sun are opposite.
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What causes a Quarter Moon?
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Moon is half-lit and half- dark from Earth. Occurs when the Moon is at right angles to the sun relative to Earth.
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What is a Neap Tide?
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Occurs during Quarter Moons. Characterized by the smallest tidal range.
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How long between a spring tide and a neap tide?
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About one week.
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What is declination and how does it alter tides?
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Angular distance of Moon or Sun above or below Earth's equator. Shifts lunar and solar bulges above or below the equator, creating unequal tides.
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How does the orbit of the moon around Earth affect tides? When is the tidal range greatest/smallest?
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At the perigee, the tidal range is greatest. At the apogee, the tidal range is least.
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What are the perigee and apogee, and how long does it take to get from one point to the other?
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Perigee--moon closest to the Earth Apogee--moon furthest from the Earth. There are 27.5 days between the Perigee and Apogee.
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What is a proxigean tide?
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Combination of the Spring Tide and the Perigee which creates an exceptionally high tidal range. Occurs every 1.5 years or so.
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How do Earth's elliptical orbit of the Sun and the Moon's elliptical orbit of Earth influence tides?
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Tidal range is greatest at the perihelion and perigee, while tidal range is least at the aphelion and apogee.
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How long is the perigee-apogee cycle?
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27.5 days
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In an ideal world, what would we predict tides to look like?
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Two high tides and two low tides per lunar day, with six lunar hours between high and low tides.
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What determines the speed of a tide?
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Depth of the water.
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Do tidal bulges exist in the real ocean?
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Because of continents and friction with the seafloor, and because they are too slow to keep up with Earth's rotation, they cannot form.
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What do tidal cells in the real ocean look like? How long does it take for a tide wave to rotate?
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Crests and troughs of tide wave rotate around amphidromic point near center of each cell, where there is no tidal range. Cotidal lines connect all nearby locations where high tides occur simultaneously. Tide waves rotate once every 12 hours.
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What are the three tidal patterns?
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Diurnal, Semidiurnal, Mixed.
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What is a diurnal tidal pattern? Where does it occur?
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One high tide + one low tide per day. Tidal period is 24 hours, 50 minutes. e.g. Antarctica; Pakhoi, China; shallow inland seas.
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What is a semidiurnal tidal pattern? Where does it occur?
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Two high tides + two low tides per day. Tidal range is fairly uniform. Tidal period is 12 hours, 25 minutes. e.g. Boston, MA.
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What is a mixed tidal pattern? Where does it occur?
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Two high tides + two low tides per day. Tidal ranges are different. Tidal period is 12 hours 25 minutes, but may also exhibit diurnal periods. e.g. San Francisco and many other places.
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How do tides affect marine life?
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e.g. Grunion (fish) come out of the water to spawn, but only after each night's highest high tide has peaked (3-4 nights after night of highest spring high tide).
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What is ecology?
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The study of the interrelationships between the physical (abiotic) and biological (biotic) aspects of the environment; how organisms adapt to and alter their environment.
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What are the characteristics of life?
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-Captures, stores, transmits energy. -Capable of reproduction. -Adapts to its Environment -Changes over time.
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What are the two major marine provinces?
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-Benthic (bottom of the ocean) -Pelagic (water column)
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What are the different biozones of the Benthic province and where are they located ?
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(Leave Salty Bacon At Home) -Littoral (shore) -Sublittoral (down to 200m) -Bathyal (down to 2000m) -Abyssal (down to 6000m) -Hadal (below 6000m)
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What are the different biozones of the Pelagic province and where are they located?
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(EMBAH) -Epipelagic (down to 200m) -Mesopelagic (down to 1000m) -Bathypelagic (down to 2000m) -Abyssalpelagic (down to 6000m) -Hadalpelagic (below 6000m)
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What is the photic zone?
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Depth where light is sufficient for photosynthesis, down to 100m. Ultraviolet, Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue light can pass through the water column.
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What is the dysphotic zone?
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Depth where light is too weak for photosynthesis. From 100m to 460 m. Some yellow and green and all blue light can pass down through the water column.
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What is the aphotic zone?
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Depth that receives no light from the surface because it is absorbed by the water above. Below 460 m.
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How many species live in the ocean?
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At least 250,000, but probably closer to 1 million.
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Who was Carl Linnaeus?
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Taxonomic classification
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What are the categories of taxonomic classification, in order of decreasing inclusivity?
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Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
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How do we name a species?
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Genus + trivial name.
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What are the five major kingdoms?
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Monera Protista/Protoctista Fungi Plantae Animalia
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What is included in kingdom Monera?
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Bacteria + cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) + archaea
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What is included in kingdom Protista?
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Single-celled or multi-celled organisms with a nucleus; single-celled algae such as phytoplankton; single-celled animals.
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What is included in kingdom Fungi?
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Over 100,000 species of molds and fungi that are abundant in the intertidal zone and are important in decomposition. Not very prevalent in the ocean.
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What is included in kingdom Plantae?
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Plants--either free-floating or attached to the sea floor.
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What is included in kingdom Animalia?
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All multicellular animals--sponges to whales!
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What types of marine organisms fall under kingdom Protista? What characterizes them?
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-Foraminifera, diatoms, and seaweed -Either planktonic or benthic -Possess internal membranes -Either eat or photosynthesize -No directional swimming; float around water column
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What marine organisms fall within the kingdom Plantae? Where do they live and why are they so important?
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-All multicellular plants -Act as primary producers in intertidal zones -Also live on the benthos.
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What is a Prokaryote?
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-No nucleus -No membrane-bound organelles -Usually have DNA in a single circular molecule
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What is a Eukaryote?
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-Nucleus -Membrane-bound organelles
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Who is Carl Woese?
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Identified archaea--between Bacteria and Eucaryota on the Phylogenetic tree of life! Based on differences in 16-S rRNA genes, which make proteins.
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What are the three main domains?
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Bacteria Archaea Eucaryota
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What characterizes Archaea?
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Prokaryotic organisms with unusual cell membrane and flagella structure. Mostly anaerobes (can't live in air). Thrive in extreme conditions.
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What characterizes bacteria?
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Prokaryotic, generally unicellular organisms. A few micrometers long. Many shapes--spheres, rods, spirals, etc.
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What kingdoms fall under Prokaryotes?
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Bacteria, Archaea.
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What kingdoms fall under Eukaryotes?
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Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia.
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What is a Nekton?
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Marine animal that actively swims. E.g. Fish, Reptiles, Mammals, Birds.
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What is a Plankton?
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Marine organism that wanders or drifts; incapable of sustained, directed horizontal movement. Can be an autotroph (phytoplankton) or heterotroph (zooplankton) Also includes bacteria and viruses.
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What are Phytoplankton and why are they important?
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Primary producers in the ocean! Carry out 47% of global primary production, but only account for 0.2% of Earth's biomass. Why? Reproductive processes are faster and life cycles are much shorter.
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How do Phytoplankton carry out photosynthesis?
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CO₂+H₂O+Light→Organic Matter + O₂
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What are DIATOMS? What are they made out of?
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Most dominant type of phytoplankton. Important in coastal areas & spring blooms. Made of SILICA. Two orders-- Centrales: marine diatoms w/ radial symmetry, in pelagic zone. Pennacles: shallow/freshwater diatoms with bilateral symmetry, in benthos. Cannot swim, but can regulate buoyancy.
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What are DINOFLAGELLATES? What are they made out of?
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Phytoplankton made of CELLULOSE. Important in harmful algal blooms. Some photosynthesize, some eat other phytoplankton. Some live symbiotically with other organisms.
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What are COCCOLITHOPHORES? What are they made out of?
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Phytoplankton made of CALCIUM CARBONATE. Make a milky pattern in water. What the White Cliffs of Dover are made out of.
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What is a colony of coccolithophores called? How long do they take to form?
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COCCOLITH--> 100 or more in a colony. Takes 15 minutes to form.
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What is a holoplankton?
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Spends entire life as plankton.
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What is a meroplankton?
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Spends the juvenile or larval stage of its life as a plankton, then turns into a Nekton.
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What is a macroplankton?
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Large floater such as jellyfish or Sargassum.
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What is a picoplankton?
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Very small floater such as a bacterioplankton.
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What is biomass?
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Static measure of how much. e.g. how many grams?
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What is primary production?
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Dynamic measure of how much is produced per unit time. e.g. how many grams per day?
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What is Net Primary Production?
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Photosynthesis - Respiration
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What limits Primary Production in the Ocean?
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Sunlight + Nutrients
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How much energy remains at 1 m depth of the energy that fell on the ocean surface?
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45%
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How much energy remains at 10 m depth of the energy that fell on the ocean surface?
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16%
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How much energy remains at 100 m depth of the energy that fell on the ocean surface?
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1%
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What are the major nutrients necessary in primary production?
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Carbon--important but abundant in seawater. Nitrate (NO3) Nitrite (NO2) Ammonium (NH3) Phosphate (PO4) Silicate (SiO4)
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What is DIN?
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Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen in the ocean.
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What is DIP?
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Dissolved Inorganic Phosphorus in the ocean.
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What is the Redfield Ratio?
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Ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen to Phosphorous in every Phytoplankton in the world. C:N:P always = 106:16:1
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How does the Redfield Ratio change for Diatoms?
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Add in Si C:N:P:Si--> 106:16:1:16
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How does Liebig's Law of the Minimum apply to Phytoplankton?
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Phytoplankton growth is determined by the response of phytoplankton to the single factor that is most limiting (N,P,Fe,Si, and other trace minerals).
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What is the most limiting factor of primary production in salt water?
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Nitrogen
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What are the major sources of nutrients for ocean ecosystems?
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Continents. Nutrients transported by runoff as a result of weathering, farm fertilizers, wastewater treatment plants.
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How does Respiration work?
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Organic Matter + O₂ → CO₂ + NO₃ + PO₄ +H₂O -Consumes Oxygen -Produces Carbon Dioxide -Regenerates Nutrients
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How do phytoplankton affect the biological pump?
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Phytoplankton absorb sunlight, CO₂, and nutrients. When they go down the water column, we get a biological pump.
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What is Marine Snow?
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Fecal pellets, plankton tests, etc. that fall through the water column and are respired on the way down.
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What is an HAB?
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Harmful Algal Bloom.
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What are the two typed of HABs?
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Nuisance Bloom Toxic Bloom
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What characterizes a Nuisance Bloom?
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Shades out water column: -Blocks out sunlight -Depletes oxygen (excessive respiration or decomposition) -Causes mechanical irritation (damaging fish gills with spines, etc.)
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What characterizes a Toxic Bloom? What are some examples?
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-HAB that produces toxins. Florida Red Tide Bloom→Fish kills Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning (Brevetoxin) Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (Domoic Acid) Cyanobacterial toxins like those in Lake Erie.
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What HAB inspired Hitchcock's The Birds? Describe in detail.
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Caused by Pseudo-nitzschia, which produce Domoic Acid. Causes confusion, seizures, coma, and possibly death.
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What phytoplankton is the most common culprit for HABs?
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DINOFLAGELLATES! Single-celled 2 flagellae Bioluminescent 6-8 million per liter of seawater.
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What is primary productivity like in polar oceans?
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Nutrients abundant due to vertical mixing. Limiting factor of production: sunlight because of darkness in winter months. So, we get diatom blooms in the summer and zooplankton biomass increases shortly thereafter.
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What is primary productivity like in tropical oceans?
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Very low primary productivity. Why? Permanent thermocline causes stratification. Plenty of light, so limiting factor of production: lack of nutrients. Exceptions: Equatorial upwelling in Eastern Pacific Coastal upwelling Coral reefs, since organisms have adapted to low-nutrient conditions.
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What is primary productivity like in temperate oceans?
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Production limited by both sunlight and nutrients. Production low in winter (lots of nutrients, little sunlight), high in spring (spring bloom), low in summer (few nutrients, lots of sunlight), high in fall (fall bloom)
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What are the causes and effects of a spring bloom in temperate oceans?
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-Nutrients abundant due to vertical mixing in winter. -Lots of solar energy -Stratification traps algae in euphotic zone. -Spring bloom dies as nutrients become depleted; zooplankton eat phytoplankton.
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What are the causes and effects of a fall bloom in temperate oceans?
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Nutrients return due to breakdown of thermocline in summer. Short and not as dramatic as the spring bloom.
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How much inorganic carbon is there in the global ocean as compared to the atmosphere?
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50 times more inorganic carbon in the ocean.
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What factors influence the ocean's carbon cycle?
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Solubility Pump + Biological Pump
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What is the Solubility Pump?
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Gas exchange allows CO2 to enter the ocean. Flux depends on air-sea CO2 difference. Solubility increases in cold water (CO2 from equator to polar regions, which are sinks).
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What is the Biological Pump?
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Pathway for rapid Carbon sequestration. A combination of biological processes transfer organic matter and associated elements down the water column. Quickly removes C from surface ocean.
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How would turning off the biological pump affect atmospheric CO2?
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Would increase atmospheric CO2 by 200 ppmv.
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What controls the efficiency of the biological pump and carbon export?
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Carbon uptake at primary production v Carbon flux at 100 m ->15% over decades -> 1% over centuries -> 0.1% over a milennium. i.e. the process is not very efficient.
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What is an HNLC area?
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Area of high nitrogen, low Chlorophyll.
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What controls algal primary productivity?
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Temperature Light (solar angle and/or mixing) Major nutrients (N,P,Si) Grazing Micro-nutrients (Fe)
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What are the minor nutrients? How do their concentrations vary with depth?
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Fe, Zn, other metals. Depleted in the surface, abundant in the deep.
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Who suggested that adding additional iron to a marine system would cause an ice age? Why?
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John Martin. Iron limits phytoplankton growth in open-ocean environments, so adding more will create more algae. When they die, their bodies will fall to the deep ocean--> decreases atmospheric CO2 (important greenhouse gas)--> ice age.
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What is a food chain?
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Primary Producer + Herbivore + 1 or more carnivores.
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What is the benthos?
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Sea floor--animals can live on or within.
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What do we call animals that live on the benthos?
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Epifauna
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What do we call animals that live in the sediment?
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Infauna
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How do we characterize benthic marine animals?
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Multicellular Active Heterotrophic Must find food, avoid predation, reproduce.
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What is a food web?
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Branching network of many consumers Consumers more likely to survive with alternative food sources.
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What is carnivorous feeding? Give some examples of marine carnivores.
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Animals capture and eat other animals. E.g. starfish, snails, fish.
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What is suspension feeding?
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Aka filter feeding Take in seawater, filter out usable organic matter
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What is deposit feeding?
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Take in detritus + sediment and extract organic matter. All infauna feed this way.
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Where is most benthic biomass located and why?
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Along coasts. Because of variations in salinity (due to brackish water from estuaries), temperature, environmental energy levels, and predator-prey relationships.
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How does the grain size of sediment relate to the energy of an organism's physical environment?
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Large grain sizes (sand) in high-energy zones. Small grain sizes (mud) in low-energy zones.
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Describe the flow of energy in marine ecosystems.
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Producers convert solar energy into chemical energy. Consumers eat other organisms (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, bacteriovores). Decomposers break down dead organisms or waste products.
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How much energy is transferred from one trophic level to another?
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10% energy transferred to next trophic level.
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What are Jellyfish?
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Part of the taxonomic rank radiata (because they are radially symmetric, organized around a central point.)
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What is the difference between Cnidaria and Ctenophora?
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Cnidaria: true jellyfish, hydra, coral anemones; can be small or large, but HAVE STINGING CELLS. Ctenophora: comb jellies; very small, use cilia for moving, have a real gut, and DO NOT HAVE STINGING CELLS.
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What forms can a cnidarian take?
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Sessile Polyp (Coral, Sea Anemone) and Mobile Medusa (Jellyfish, Box Jellies). Most exist as one form or the other, but some go through both stages.
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What is the main characteristic that defines a Cnidarian? Describe it.
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Have Cnidoblasts (stinging cells) which contain Nematocysts (capsules that contain coiled, bared, venom-filled thread).
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What issues do pelagic organisms encounter?
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Tend to be more dense and have less surface area to volume per unit of body mass.....so they tend to sink more rapdily than phytoplankton.
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Radiolarians
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- amoeboid protozoa - produce intricate skeletons (made of silica) - found throughout the ocean - skeletal remains cover large portions of the ocean floor (known as radiolarian ooze) - Rapid turn-over of species (important diagnostic fossils)
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Foraminifera
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-Most abundant (planktonic) -Most diverse (benthic) -Shells made of calcium carbonate -Common component of deep sea sediment.
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Copepods
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- group of small crustaceans - every sea and almost all freshwater habitats - Constitute the biggest source of protein in the oceans. Many species are planktonic...But more are Benthic
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How do marine animals regulate their buoyancy?
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Rigid gas container Swim bladder
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Rigid gas container
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Buoyancy regulating mechanism of cuttlefish, squid, octopus. Chambered shell where pressure in shell=1atm, so must stay above 500m or its shell will collapse.
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Osteichthyes
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Bony fishes -Has a swim bladder -Has gill covers -Has scales
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How do we classify osteichthyes?
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Ray-finned Lobe-finned
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Condrichthyes
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Cartilaginous fishes - No bones - No swim bladder - 5-7 open gill slits No scales Three main types: -Sharks -Rays -Chimaeras
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Elasmobranches
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Shark or Ray
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What is a swim bladder?
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low density adjustable most Osteichthyes (bony fish) lost secondarily in some species
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What is a Physostomous Swim Bladder?
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Fast swim bladder Pneumatic Duct between the gas bladder and the esophagus. Fish fills up bladder by gulping air. E.g. herrings, salmonids, catfishes, cyprinids, eels, etc.
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What is a Physoclistous Swim Bladder?
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Slow swim bladder. Blood/circulatory system--source of gases Rete mirabile responsible for inflation, oval window responsible for deflation. Disadvantage: can't rise too fast or the fish will explode. E.g., sunfishes, perch, most marine fishes
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How do Cnidarians avoid sinking?
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Portuguese Man-of-War has a gas-filled float. Jellyfish have soft, low-density bodies.
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How do Nekton avoid sinking?
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Active swimming.
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What main fins do fish have and what are they used for?
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Paired vertical fins--stabilizers Paired pelvic fins and pectoral fins--steering and balance Caudal (tail) fin--thrust
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What forces do fish encounter?
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Roll, pitch, yaw.
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What forces does a fish produce when it swims?
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Thrust, lift, drag.
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What is a "Lunger" when we're talking about fish hunting habits?
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Fish that wait for prey and pounce. Mainly have white muscle tissue, which is good for short bursts of energy. Tire easily and must rest to replenish oxygen. e.g. Grouper
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What is a "Cruiser" when we're talking about fish hunting habits?
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Fish that actively seek prey. Mostly red muscle tissue, but also have white muscle tissue--high metabolic rate. Good for long periods of swimming. e.g. Tuna
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What is the difference between red and white muscle tissue?
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Red muscle tissue has high concentrations of myoglobin and contains more oxygen. They support a metabolic rate 6x that of white fibers. White muscle tissues have lower concentrations of myoglobin.
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How have fish adapted to find prey?
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Swimming speed--> generally proportional to size. Can move very fast for a short time (mostly to avoid predation). Fish also school--appear as single larger unit, and maneuvers confuse predators.
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What are the two types of Weathering?
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Physical Weathering (heat, water, ice, pressure→ small chunks, greater surface area) Chemical Weathering (soil pH, temperature, precipitation, mineral composition of rock)
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What is congruent weathering?
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Results in ONLY dissolved ions.
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What is incongruent weathering?
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Results in newly-made clay minerals and dissolved ions.
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How do we classify marine sediments?
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Terrigenous Biogenous Hydrogenous Cosmogenous Volcanogenous
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Describe Terrigenous sediments.
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Eroded rock fragments from land transported by Water, Wind, Ice, and Gravity).
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Describe Biogenous sediments.
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Hard remains of once-living organisms. Shells, bones, teeth; can be macroscopic or microscopic. Biogenic ooze (30% or more tests), mainly algae and protozoans. Mainly calcium carbonate or silica; usually planktonic.
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What is siliceous ooze?
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Diatoms (algae) and Radiolarians (protozoans).
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What is calcareous ooze?
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Coccolithophores (algae) and Foraminifera (protozoans)
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What factors control the distribution of biogenous sediments?
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Productivity, Dissolution, Dilution
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What is the CCD?
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Calcium compensation depth, above which calcite is stable and not dissolved, and below which calcite dissolves. Why? Low: temperature, pH; High: pressure, CO2.
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How much food from the surface waters reaches the abyssal plain?
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1-3%
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Describe the process of a whale fall.
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1) Mobile scavengers come & eat (4 months to 1.5 years). 2) Opportunistic macrofauna leave; bacteria and small invertibrates dominate diversity. 3) Chemotropic bacteria and sulfide-tolerant organisms can survive (decades).
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What were some early clues that hinted at the existence of hydrothermal vents?
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Hot brines in the depths of the Red Sea Missing Heat (hotspots in ocean floor) Metal-rich sediments Unusual rocks (mid-ocean ridge rocks of brown, orange, dark green) Ophiolites (ocean crust on land)
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How do Hydrothermal Vents work?
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Cold seawater seeps into ocean floor cracks. 350-400º water reacts with crust (oxygen removed, becomes acidic, picks up dissolved Fe, Cu, Zn, and Hydrogen Sulfide) Hot liquid rises, carries metals and H2S Exits, mixes with cold, oxygen-rich water
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What types of hydrothermal vents exist?
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White smoker--not as hot, silica and anhydrite precipitate. Black smoker--v. hot, metals and sulfides mix to form black minerals.
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How do organisms in the deep sea get energy?
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Chemosynthesis (microscopic archaea produce chemical energy). Water+CO2+H2S+O2--> Carbohydrates and Sulfuric Acid.
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What is a tube worm?
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Organism that lives near vents. Plume filters O2, H2S, CO2 from seawater; contains hemoglobin. Blood transports chemicals to bacteria in cavity; bacteria produces sugar and tube worms symbiotically use some of it. Worm tubes made of chitin.
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How do vent communities move from one vent to another?
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Dead whales as stepping stones. Following deep currents.
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What are some other deep biocommunities?
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Hypersaline seeps (high salinity, normal temperature, H2S rich water seeps) Hydrocarbon seeps (H2S and Methane as energy sources)
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What is a mammal?
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Warm blooded Breathe air Have hair or fur at some stage of development Bear live young Females have mammary glands that produce milk
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How many species of marine mammals are there?
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116
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What orders of Marine Mammals exist?
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Carnivora (Pinnipeds) Sirenia Cetacea (Odontoceti, Mysticeti)
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What are Pinnipeds?
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Seals, Sea Lions & Fur Seals, Walruses Fin-footed Predatory, eat fish & squid Streamlined bodies for swimming Thick layer of blubber (insulation, food reserves, buoyancy)
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What defines a seal?
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Rear flippers cannot be moved forward No external ear flap--ear holes Uses back flippers for swimming--can't be moved forward! Front flippers covered with hair, sharp nails, five toes--can't rotate backward. Flippers attached at the wrist Short, robust neck
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What defines a sea lion/ fur seal?
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External ear Long neck that can be turned in water Back flippers can be moved forward Front flippers can be rotated backward to support weight, keep head erect. No hair/nails on flippers (reduces water resistance)
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What is a California Sea Lion?
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Opportunistic feeders -Found in the Western Pacific (California south to the Galapagos); none in the Atlantic -Incredibly Common (found in groups of hundreds) -Can be territorial during breeding season -Often found in aquariums for shows -Migrate seasonally
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What is a harbor seal?
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Shy and quiet Only social during mating and resting Haul out in large groups Globally distributed Eat mainly fish
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What is the keystone predator in the Antarctic?
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Leopard Seal-- jaw opens more than 160º to bite larger prey
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What is a fur seal?
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Found throughout the northern Pacific Solitary, except when mating or nursing young Remain in the water except for mating Eats most types of fish Have extremely long hind flippers Only 15 in captivity
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What is a walrus?
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Neither seal nor sea lion Tusks on Males and Females, up to 1m long--anchoring and defense. Strictly arctic. Benthic feeder (clams, echinoderms)
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What is included in order Sirenia?
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Manatees Dugongs Stellar Sea Cow (extinct)
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Describe Sirenia.
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Sirenians are the only herbivorous marine mammals; feed on aquatic plants and algae Some species live in fresh and/or brackish water Inhabit temperate or subtropical waters Severely threatened by motor boat collisions, harmful algal blooms, pollution, and severe winters
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What characterizes marine carnivorous mammals?
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Sea Otters, Polar Bears Prominent canine teeth Skin-covered flippers
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What characterizes a sea otter?
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Smallest marine mammal, no blubber. Dense fur (traps air for insulation) Only in Pacific Ocean Live near shore Dive to sea floor to hunt mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms Must eat 25-30% of body weight per day.
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What characterizes a polar bear?
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semi-aquatic mammals that spend a good deal of their life drifting on sea ice in the Arctic They feed primarily on seals, which they stalk at breathing holes World's largest land carnivore Thick blubber; two layers of translucent fur (thick undercoat, guard hairs), black skin! Threatened by the loss of Arctic sea ice!
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What is the arctic keystone predator?
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Polar Bear
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What characterizes Cetacea?
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Elongated (telescope skull) Blowholes on top of the skull Very few hairs Horizontal tail fin Swim fast b/c: - elongated body, skin Deep diving
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What characterizes Odontoceti?
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Prominent teeth Complex and long lived social groups One blowhole Best sound development Good vision - but uses echolocation
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What is a dolphin?
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Odontoceti, Delphinidae Beak Pronounced curved fin
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What is a porpoise?
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Odontoceti, Phocoenidae No beak Small, rounded head Well-defined triangular dorsal fin Small flippers Notched flukes
