This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor: Cutler Cleveland
A marine mammal is one of a number of species that comprise a diverse group of approximately one hundred and thirty different mammal species that live in the world's seas and oceans, or are dependent on them for their survival in the wild. Marine mammals include:
Polar bear - the sole marine mammal in family Ursidae
Because of the persistent hunting of many of these species by humans, marine mammals have been undergoing a much higher rate of species extinctions since the mid-Holocene, and continuing into modern times. Other actions of humans such as water pollution, climate change, coastalhabitat destruction and habitat fragmentation have added to these species populations declines. While numerous conservation measures to protect marine mammals are underway, dozens of the extant species still remain in various classifications of vulnerability.
Cetaceans
Barnacled Gray whale rostrum at a distance of two meters, San Ignacio Lagoon, Mexico. @ C.Michael Hogan
Japanese otter (Lutra nippon) [Some taxonomies place this as a L.lutra subspecies]
Hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana)
Smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata)
Giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)-
Sea cows
Sea cows are members of the order Sirenia. While many of the Sea cows have become extinct in Holocene and somewhat more distant epochs. the extant Sea cows are represented by only two genera:
Genus Dugong (Monotypic genus with the only species Dugong dugon)
Genus Trichechus (Taxa: West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus), Antillean Manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus), Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), African Manatee (Trichechus senegalensis), Amazonian Manatee (Trichechus inunguis), Dwarf Manatee (Trichechus pygmaeus), taxon validity in doubt
Polar bear migrating to pack ice, Churchill. @ C.Michael Hogan
Polar bear
The Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is the only member of the bear family to be classified as a marine mammal, since this species spends a large fraction of its life at sea in the chilly Northern Hemisphere seas. While chiefly a carnivore who feeds at sea, this mammal dens in earth and snow caves and is able to forage terrestrially for birds, small mammals and even plant species, such as dwarf birch and lichens.
Example Conservation Areas
The following are examples of conservation areas having a significant presence of marine mammals with programs of biodiversity protection:
Lady Elliot Island, southernmost cay of the Great Barrier Reef @ C.Michael Hogan
Marine Mammal Research: Conservation beyond Crisis, edited by John E. Reynolds III, William F. Perrin, Randall R. Reeves, Suzanne Montgomery and Timothy J. Ragen, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005 ISBN: 0801882559
Ronald M.Nowak. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN: 0801857899
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Peter Saundry (Lead Author);C Michael Hogan (Contributing Author);Cutler Cleveland (Topic Editor) "Marine mammal". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth September 22, 2009; Last revised Date December 16, 2011; Retrieved May 24, 2012 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Marine_mammal>
The Author
Stewardship Committee
The Encyclopedia of Earth
Dr. Peter Saundry is the Executive Director of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), a nonpartisan organization working to improve the scientific basis of environmental decision making. The NCSE works closely with the many communities that create and use environmental knowledge to make and shape environmental decisions, including academic, scientific, environmental, and business organizations, as well as federal, s ... (Full Bio)
A marine mammal is one of a number of species that comprise a diverse group of approximately one hundred and thirty different mammal species that live in the world's seas and oceans, or are dependent on them for their survival in the wild. Marine mammals include:
Polar bear - the sole marine mammal in family Ursidae
Because of the persistent hunting of many of these species by humans, marine mammals have been undergoing a much higher rate of species extinctions since the mid-Holocene, and continuing into modern times. Other actions of humans such as water pollution, climate change, coastalhabitat destruction and habitat fragmentation have added to these species populations declines. While numerous conservation measures to protect marine mammals are underway, dozens of the extant species still remain in various classifications of vulnerability.
Cetaceans
Barnacled Gray whale rostrum at a distance of two meters, San Ignacio Lagoon, Mexico. @ C.Michael Hogan
Japanese otter (Lutra nippon) [Some taxonomies place this as a L.lutra subspecies]
Hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana)
Smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata)
Giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)-
Sea cows
Sea cows are members of the order Sirenia. While many of the Sea cows have become extinct in Holocene and somewhat more distant epochs. the extant Sea cows are represented by only two genera:
Genus Dugong (Monotypic genus with the only species Dugong dugon)
Genus Trichechus (Taxa: West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus), Antillean Manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus), Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), African Manatee (Trichechus senegalensis), Amazonian Manatee (Trichechus inunguis), Dwarf Manatee (Trichechus pygmaeus), taxon validity in doubt
Polar bear migrating to pack ice, Churchill. @ C.Michael Hogan
Polar bear
The Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is the only member of the bear family to be classified as a marine mammal, since this species spends a large fraction of its life at sea in the chilly Northern Hemisphere seas. While chiefly a carnivore who feeds at sea, this mammal dens in earth and snow caves and is able to forage terrestrially for birds, small mammals and even plant species, such as dwarf birch and lichens.
Example Conservation Areas
The following are examples of conservation areas having a significant presence of marine mammals with programs of biodiversity protection:
Lady Elliot Island, southernmost cay of the Great Barrier Reef @ C.Michael Hogan
Marine Mammal Research: Conservation beyond Crisis, edited by John E. Reynolds III, William F. Perrin, Randall R. Reeves, Suzanne Montgomery and Timothy J. Ragen, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005 ISBN: 0801882559
Ronald M.Nowak. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN: 0801857899
Are you absolutely sure you want to delete this article? This process cannot be undone and is permanent.
Barnacled Gray whale rostrum at a distance of two meters, San Ignacio Lagoon, Mexico. @ C.Michael Hogan
Aerial view of Cape fur seal colony, Namib Desert coast. @ C.Michael Hogan
European otter, Devonshire, England. Source: Ivan Teage
African clawless otter (Aonyx capensis)
Polar bear migrating to pack ice, Churchill. @ C.Michael Hogan
Lady Elliot Island, southernmost cay of the Great Barrier Reef
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