1. Biology of Marine Mammals
MARE 390
Dr. Turner

2. What are marine mammals?
“... Hmmm...Bottlenosed Bruises, Blowhole Burns, flipper prints, This looks like the work of rowdy teens, Lou cancel the prom ... .” – Chief Wiggum
What are marine mammals?
Mammals that live and feed in the marine (aquatic) environment
What are Mammals?
Mammary glands – nurse young with milk
Hair
Diaphragm
Are Cetaceans Mammals?

3. Marine Mammals Over 120 species across 3 orders Order Carnivora
Polar bears, sea otters, seals, sea lions, walruses
Order Sirenia “Sea Cows”
Manatees, dugongs
Order Cetacea
Baleen whales, toothed whales (e.g. sperm,
dolphin, beluga, porpoise)

4. Adaptations to an Aquatic Existence
Marine Mammals
Adaptations to an Aquatic Existence
Insulated skin – blubber or dense fur
Countercurrent heat exchange systems
Eyes, nose, ears – terrestrial, FW, SW
High Frequency sounds

5. Adaptations to an Aquatic Existence
Marine Mammals
Adaptations to an Aquatic Existence
Modified limbs – fore & hind limbs, tail
Adapted internal organs
Kidneys – osmoregulation
Respiratory system - diving

6. Marine Mammals Part I – Evolutionary History
Systematics & Classification
Carnivore Evolution
Cetacean Evolution
Sirenian Evolution
Evolutionary Biogeography
Part II – Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Behavior
Energetics
Respiration & Dive Physiology
Sound Production
Diet & Foraging
Reproductive Strategies
Population Structure
Conservation & Management

7. Marine Mammals Relating Evolutionary Events
Cenozoic Era – last 65 million years, all marine mammals appeared

8. Marine Mammals Early Observations
Aristotle ( BC) – Historia Animalia describes dolphins, killer whales, baleen whales
Konrad Gesner (1500’s) – Historia Animalium
Contained earliest drawings of marine mammals
Earliest evidence of plagiarism
Cenozoic Era – last 65 million years, all marine mammals appeared

9. Cenozoic Era – last 65 million years, all marine mammals appeared

10. Marine Mammal Science Emerged as a discipline in last 20-30 yrs
Expansion of literature
– 3 papers/year
– 28 papers/year
– 646 papers/year
– 856 papers/year
Journal of Mammalogy, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Journal of Zoology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Fisheries Bulletin, Marine Ecology Progress Series
Cenozoic Era – last 65 million years, all marine mammals appeared

11. Marine Mammal Science Early Marine mammalogists Sam Ridgway - anatomy
Jim Mead – population structure
William Evans – acoustics; conservation
Bill Perrin - morphometrics
Bernd Würsig – behavior
Bill Gilmartin – monk seals
Ken Norris - behavior
Cenozoic Era – last 65 million years, all marine mammals appeared

12. Marine Mammal Science Specific Journals Marine Mammal Science
Aquatic Mammals
Cenozoic Era – last 65 million years, all marine mammals appeared

13. Marine Mammal Science Study of Mammal Mammals
Difficult – Large % of life history aquatic
Much known from captivity
Navy population
Sea life parks
1° Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose dolphin)

14. Marine Mammal Science Study of Mammal Mammals Increasing technology
Remote sensing
telemetry – radio, acoustic, satellite
time-depth recorder
crittercams
Molecular ecology
systematics
taxonomy