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Ocean Wild Things

Archives for December 2009

Atlantic White-sided Dolphin

December 31, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft Leave a Comment

The Atlantic white-sided dolphin or Lagenorhynchus acutus hangs out in the cold water of the north Atlantic Ocean. According to the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, this dolphin has been spotted as far south as Cape Cod, as far north as southern Iceland and as far east as the Norwegian Sea. Considered to be one of the most… [read more]

Filed Under: Dolphins, Marine mammals Tagged With: cetacean, dolphin, dorsal fin

Arctic Marine Mammals

December 24, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a post about all the fabulous marine mammals hanging out near the North Pole? The Arctic hosts a variety of marine mammals including eight species of pinnipeds (several seals, walruses), three cetaceans (bowhead, beluga and narwhal whales) and one fissiped (polar bears). (For me, fissiped is… [read more]

Filed Under: Marine mammals, Seals, sea lions, Whales Tagged With: cetacean, dolphin, fissiped, pinniped, polar bear, seal, walrus, whale

Snowy Plover: dirty square dancing in the sand

December 17, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

To live on the beach, bask in the sun, scrape a nest in the sand, run near the waves and make love along the dunes is to live the life of a snowy plover. Western snowy plovers or Charadrius alexandrines nivosus are cute little birds that inhabit prime waterfront property along California’s coast and inland… [read more]

Filed Under: Birds, Easy Reader columns Tagged With: bird, courtship, sex, threatened

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin

December 13, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

Finally a dolphin that sounds easy to identify, the Atlantic spotted dolphin or Stenella frontalis must be easy to spot (no pun intended) with all the spots on its body. Oh but of course it’s not that simple, some Atlantic spotted dolphins have many spots and others not so much. According to the Encyclopedia of… [read more]

Filed Under: Dolphins, Marine mammals Tagged With: cetacean, dolphin

Archaeocetes: ancestors of the whales

December 11, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft 3 Comments

Today’s whales, dolphins and porpoises can trace their ancestry to Archaeocetes, the name given to a group of prehistoric whales that lived 55 to 34 million years ago. However, these animals looked nothing like whales. Well I’m being overly dramatic; one looks kind of like a whale, but it not exactly. Based on the drawings… [read more]

Filed Under: Dolphins, Marine mammals, Porpoises, Whales Tagged With: cetacean, dolphin, extinct, porpoise, whale

Antarctic Marine Mammals

December 2, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft 4 Comments

After a journey with the Antarctic fur seal, the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals features Antarctic marine mammals in general. These robust marine mammals live within the Antarctic convergence, an invisible natural border where the extremely cold Southern Ocean meets warmer water from the north. Most marine mammals who live further north do not cross this… [read more]

Filed Under: Dolphins, Marine mammals, Seals, sea lions, Whales Tagged With: cetacean, dolphin, endangered, krill, pinniped, seal, sealing, whale, whaling

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