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Perhaps the most recognizable and exciting group within marine life are the marine mammals. Because they are mammals, these animals breathe air, have live births, and are warm blooded. Despite the generality of mammals to live on land, these mammals make their home in the sea. Some recognizable marine mammals include whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, walruses, manatees, polar bears, and sea otters. In order to be deemed a marine mammal, the animal must spend most to all of its life in the ocean. While there are some notable exceptions, most marine mammals share similar features including paddle-like extremities. All marine mammals have hair or fur for at least one section of their lives. Marine mammals are further classified into one of four groups: cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, or marine fissipeds.
Cetaceans are fully aquatic, meaning they spend their entire lives in the ocean. This is the group that dolphins and whales belong to. Cetaceans have special adaptations to maximize their ability to live completely in and thrive in a marine environment, will still needing to breathe air. The next subcategorization of marine mammals are the Pinnipeds. This group of marine mammals is unique, as they will spend most of their time in the ocean, but will move to land in order to give birth. This habitat change requires features that will let the animals thrive both on land and in marine environments, such as muscular flippers powerful enough to supply movement both on land and in the water. Within the Pinniped group, one can find seals and walruses.
Next there is the only other group of marine mammals that are fully aquatic: the sirenians. These mammals, including manatees, are herbivorous and are named after the mythical sirens. The final group of marine mammals are the marine fissipeds. These mammals spend most of their life out of water, but live near the ocean and return to the marine world to hunt for their food. This group contains the polar bear. While some marine mammals may appear cute and cuddly, it is important to remember that they are wild animals, and are some of the most ferocious predators in the ocean.
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