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Ocean Wild Things

5 amazing argonaut facts

October 27, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 5 Comments

Argonauts are astounding! This ocean creature wasn’t on my radar screen until a female argonaut rode a warm current up to Southern California and was caught by squid fishermen who then contacted Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which is where it now resides and where I first heard about it. Argonauts are common in tropical seas, but… [read more]

Filed Under: Octopuses, squid Tagged With: cephalopod, sexual dimorphism

Great time to see elephant seals

January 10, 2011 by Carolyn Kraft Leave a Comment

Now is the perfect time to go see the elephant seals! December through March is breeding and birthing time for Northern elephant seals and according to the Friends of the Elephant Seal website the peak birthing time is the middle of January. So that means this coming weekend is the best time to visit Piedras… [read more]

Filed Under: Seals, sea lions Tagged With: elephant seal, pinniped, seal, sexual dimorphism

Pilot whale says cheese

August 12, 2010 by Carolyn Kraft Leave a Comment

This photo made my day so I had to pass it along. According to a story on Telegraph.co.uk, the photo was taken by marine biologist Rory Moore during a dive off the Strait of Gibraltar. It was Moore’s impression that this pod of pilot whales had little contact with humans and were extra curious. The… [read more]

Filed Under: Whales Tagged With: dorsal fin, sexual dimorphism, whale, whale watching

Sexual maturity in whales and dolphins

April 29, 2010 by Carolyn Kraft 2 Comments

Ah puberty, those awkward years on the road to sexual maturity. It’s not clear if whales and dolphins must also suffer the dramatic ups and downs of the human teenager, but some do have to suffer big differences between the sexes when it comes to the actually timing of sexual maturity. In several posts we’ve… [read more]

Filed Under: Dolphins, Marine mammals, Whales Tagged With: baleen, cetacean, courtship, dolphin, evolution, porpoise, sexual dimorphism, whale

Elephant seals: ocean aliens have landed!

April 9, 2010 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

Picture an elephant crossed with a seal and add in a little “District 9” alien. The result: the male northern elephant seal or Mirounga angustirostris. The elephant part of the description helps convey the sheer mass of the male elephant seal, plus the shape of its nose. According to the book Elephant Seals by Carole… [read more]

Filed Under: Easy Reader columns, Marine mammals, Seals, sea lions Tagged With: courtship, elephant seal, pinniped, seal, sex, sexual dimorphism

California, Galapagos and Japanese sea lions

March 17, 2010 by Carolyn Kraft Leave a Comment

I have finally made it to the “C” section of the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals! Wow, blogging my way through the encyclopedia is going to take awhile. And so the C’s begin with the California, Galapagos and Japanese sea lions. My impression is that they were all grouped together in the C’s because California sea… [read more]

Filed Under: Marine mammals, Seals, sea lions Tagged With: extinct, pinniped, sea lion, sexual dimorphism

Bearded Seals: sweet whiskers

January 27, 2010 by Carolyn Kraft 4 Comments

The bearded seal or Erignathus barbatus is the Santa Claus of seals with fabulously long whiskers that curl a bit when dry. And how fitting since they live not far from the North Pole at the edge of the sea ice that extends in all directions from this northern most point. But the whiskers of… [read more]

Filed Under: Marine mammals, Seals, sea lions Tagged With: pinniped, seal, sealing, sexual dimorphism

Antarctic Fur Seals

November 24, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft Leave a Comment

Antarctic fur seals or Acrtocephalus gazella hang out in intense cold around islands in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans near Antarctica. Simlar to other pinnipeds, Antarctic fur seals possess an intense sexual dimorphism in size between males and females. According to the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, males are 1.5 times longer and weigh four… [read more]

Filed Under: Marine mammals, Seals, sea lions Tagged With: blastocyst, diapause, harem, pinniped, seal, sexual dimorphism

Amazon River Dolphin: the pink dolphin

November 9, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

The Amazon River dolphin or Inia geoffrensisis is known locally in Brazil as boto or botovermelho. Vera da Silva, author of the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals’ article, seems to prefer this name. Throughout the article the dolphin is referred to as “the boto.” Good nicknames for the boto could be Pepto Bismo or the Mary Kay crusader… [read more]

Filed Under: Dolphins, Marine mammals Tagged With: cetacean, dolphin, endangered, river, sexual dimorphism

Aggressive Behavior in Marine Mammals: can’t we all just get along

November 7, 2009 by Carolyn Kraft Leave a Comment

Reading the article on aggressive behavior in the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals is a serious downer. Don’t get me wrong, most of the information is standard wild animal behavior, which the author, Claudio Campagna, nicely summarizes in the introduction. “Aggressive or agonistic behaviors represent a conglomerate of social responses, including male disputes over territorial boundaries, female fights to protect… [read more]

Filed Under: Marine mammals, Seals, sea lions Tagged With: body language, cetacean, elephant seal, pinniped, sea lion, seal, sexual dimorphism

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