HECTOR'S DOLPHIN

HECTOR'S DOLPHIN

Hector's dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori is the best-known of the four dolphins in the genus Cephalorhynchus and is found only in New Zealand. At approximately 1.4 m in length, it is one of the smallest cetaceans, and New Zealand's only endemic cetacean.
Two subspecies occur: C. h. hectori, the more numerous subspecies, is found around the South Island, and the critically endangered Maui's dolphin C. h. maui is found off the northwest coast of the North Island. Maui's dolphin is one of the eight most endangered groups of cetaceans. The Hector's dolphin is also the world's smallest and rarest dolphin. A 2010/2011 survey by the New Zealand Department of Conservation estimated only 55 adults remained.
Hector’s dolphin was named after Sir James Hector 1834–1907, who was the curator of the Colonial Museum in Wellington now the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. He examined the first specimen found of the dolphin. The species was scientifically described by Belgian zoologist Pierre-Joseph van Beneden in 1881.

BLACK RHINOCEROS

BLACK RHINOCEROS

The black rhinoceros or hook-lipped rhinoceros Diceros bicornis is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and central Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Angola. Although the rhinoceros is referred to as black, its colors vary from brown to grey.
The other African rhinoceros is the white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum. The word "white" in the name "white rhinoceros" is a misinterpretation of the Afrikaans word wyd, itself derived from the Dutch word wijd for wide, referring to its square upper lip, as opposed to the pointed or hooked lip of the black rhinoceros. These species are now sometimes referred to as the square-lipped for white or hook-lipped for black rhinoceros.
The species overall is classified as critically endangered, and one subspecies, the western black rhinoceros, was declared extinct by the IUCN in 2011.

NARWHAL

The narwhal, or narwhal, is a medium-sized toothed whale and possesses a large "tusk" from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada, and Russia. It is one of two living species of whale in the Monodontidae family, along with the beluga whale. The narwhal males are distinguished by a long, straight, helical tusk, which is an elongated upper left canine. The narwhal was one of many species described by Carolus Linnaeus in his publication Systema Naturae in 1758.
Like the beluga, narwhals are medium-sized whales. For both sexes, excluding the male's tusk, the total body size can range from 3.95 to 5.5 metres 13.0 to 18.0 feet; the males are slightly larger than the females. The average weight of an adult narwhal is 800 to 1,600 kilograms 1,800 to 3,500 pounds. At around 11 to 13 years old, the males become sexually mature; females become sexually mature at about 5 to 8 years old. Narwhals do not have a dorsal fin, and their neck vertebrae are jointed like those of other mammals, not fused as in dolphins and most whales. Narwhals can live up to 50 years old. They are often killed by suffocation when the sea ice freezes over. Another cause of fatality, specifically among young whales, is starvation. 

BLUE FIN TUNA

BLUE FIN TUNA
The blue fin tuna is a predatory species of tuna found widely in the northern Pacific Ocean, but it is migratory and also recorded as a visitor to the south Pacific.In the past it was often included, the 'combined' species then known as the northern blue fin tuna . It may reach as much as 3 m (9.8 ft) in length and 450 kg (990 lb) in weight.
Most fish are cold-blooded. However, tuna and mackerel sharks are warm-blooded: they can regulate their body temperature. Warm-blooded fish possess organs near their muscles called retia mirabilia that consist of a series of minute parallel veins and arteries that supply and drain the muscles. As the warmer blood in the veins returns to the gills for fresh oxygen it comes into close contact with cold, newly oxygenated blood in the arteries. The system acts as a counter-current heat exchanger and the heat from the blood in the veins is given up to the colder arterial blood rather than being lost at the gills. The net effect is less heat loss through the gills. Fish from warmer water elevate their temperature a few degrees whereas those from cold water may raise it as much as 20 °C warmer than the surrounding sea.
The tuna's ability to maintain body temperature has several definite advantages over other sea life. It need not limit its range according to water temperature, nor is it dominated by climatic changes. The additional heat supplied to the muscles is also advantageous because of the resulting extra power and speed. Bluefin tuna have been clocked in excess of 30 miles per hour during 10 to 20 second sprints, enabling it to hunt squid, herring, mackerel, etc., that slower predators cannot captur

LEATHER BACK TURTLE

LEATHER BACK TURTLE
The leatherback sea turtle, sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle, is the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth-heaviest modern reptile behind three crocodiles. It is the only living species in the genus Dermochelys. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh. D. coriacea is the only extant member of the family Dermochelyidae.
Relatives of modern leatherback turtles have existed in some form since the first true sea turtles evolved over 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. The dermochelyids are close relatives of the family Cheloniidae, which contains the other six extant sea turtle species. However, their sister taxon is the extinct family Protostegidae which included other species not having a hard carapace.
Leatherback turtles have the most hydrodynamic body design of any sea turtle, with a large, teardrop-shaped body. A large pair of front flippers power the turtles through the water. Like other sea turtles, the leatherback has flattened fore limbs adapted for swimming in the open ocean. Claws are absent from both pairs of flippers. The leatherback's flippers are the largest in proportion to its body among extant sea turtles. Leatherback's front flippers can grow up to 2.7 m in large specimens, the largest flippers of any sea turtle.
Leatherback turtles are one of the deepest-diving marine animals. Individuals have been recorded diving to depths as great as 1,280 m. Typical dive durations are between 3 and 8 minutes, with dives of 30–70 minutes occurring infrequently.

WHALE

WHALE

Whale origin Old English hwæl from Proto-Germanic hwalaz is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to the suborder Odontoceti toothed whales. This suborder includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga whale. The other cetacean suborder, Mysticeti baleen whales, comprises filter feeders who eat small organisms caught by straining seawater through a comblike structure found in the mouth called baleen. This suborder includes the blue whale, the humpback whale, the bowhead whale and the minke whale. All cetaceans have forelimbs modified as fins, a tail with horizontal flukes, and nasal openings blowholes on top of the head.
Whales range in size from the blue whale, the largest animal known to have ever existed, at 30 m 98 ft and 180 tonnes 180 long tons; 200 short tons, to pygmy species such as the pygmy sperm whale at 3.5 m 11 ft. Whales inhabit all the world's oceans and number in the millions, with annual population growth rate estimates for various species ranging from 3% to 13%. Whales are long-lived, humpback whales living for up to 77 years, while bowhead whales may live for more than a century.
Human hunting of whales from the seventeenth century until 1986 radically reduced the populations of some whale species.
Whales play a role in creation myths, for example among the Inuit, and they are revered by coastal people in countries such as Ghana and Vietnam.

OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE

OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE
The olive ridley sea turtle, also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The olive ridley is a small sea turtle, with an adult carapace length averaging 60 to 70 cm.[3] The heart-shaped carapace is characterized by four pairs of pore-bearing inframarginal scutes on the bridge, two pairs of prefrontals, and up to 9 lateral scutes per side. Olive ridleys are unique in that they can have variable and asymmetrical lateral scute 6 to 8 counts ranging from five to 9 plates on each side, with six to eight being most commonly observed.[3] Each side of the carapace has 12–14 marginal scutes. The carapace is flattened dorsally and highest anterior to the bridge.
It has a medium–sized, broad head that appears triangular from above. The head's concave sides are most obvious on the upper part of the short snout. It has paddle-like forelimbs, each having two anterior claws. The upperparts are grayish green to olive in color, but sometimes appear reddish due to algae growing on the carapace. The bridge and hingeless plastron of an adult varies from greenish white in younger individuals to a creamy yellow in older specimens.
Hatchlings are dark gray with a pale yolk scar, but appear all black when wet.^[3] Carapace length ranges from 37 to 50 mm. A thin, white line borders the carapace, as well as the trailing edge of the fore and hind flippers.^[4] Both hatchlings and juveniles have serrated posterior marginal scutes, which become smooth with age. Juveniles also have three dorsal keels; the central longitudinal keel gives younger turtles a serrated profile, which remains until sexual maturity is reached

SEI WHALE

SEI WHALE

The sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the fourth-largest rorqual after the blue whale, the fin whale and the humpback whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water. The sei whale migrates annually from cool and subpolar waters in summer to winter in temperate and subtropical waters.
Reaching 19.5 metres 64 ft long and weighing as much as 28 tonnes 28 long tons; 31 short tons, the sei whale daily consumes an average of 900 kilograms 2,000 lb of food, primarily copepods, krill, and other zooplankton. It is among the fastest of all cetaceans, and can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour 31 mph 27 knots over short distances. The whale's name comes from the Norwegian word for pollock, a fish that appears off the coast of Norway at the same time of the year as the sei whale.
Following large-scale commercial whaling during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when over 255,000 whales were taken, the sei whale is now internationally protected, although limited hunting occurs under a controversial research program conducted by Japan. As of 2008, its worldwide population was about 80,000, nearly a third of its pre-whaling population.

BELUGA WHALE

BELUGA WHALE
The beluga whale or white whale is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. This marine mammal is commonly referred to simply as the melonhead, beluga or sea canary due to its high-pitched twitter.
It is adapted to life in the Arctic, so has anatomical and physiological characteristics that differentiate it from other cetaceans. Amongst these are its unmistakable all-white color and the absence of a dorsal fin. It possesses a distinctive protuberance at the front of its head which houses an echolocation organ called the melon, which in this species is large and plastic. The beluga's body size is between that of a dolphin's and a true whale’s, with males growing up to 5.5 m long and weighing up to 1,600 kg. This whale has a stocky body; it has the greatest percentage of blubber. Its sense of hearing is highly developed and it possesses echolocation, which allows it to move about and find blowholes under sheet ice.
Belugas are gregarious and they form groups of up to 10 animals on average, although during the summer months, they can gather in the hundreds or even thousands in estuaries and shallow coastal areas. They are slow swimmers, but can dive down to 700 m (2,300 ft) below the surface. They are opportunistic feeders and their diets vary according to their locations and the season. They mainly eat fish, crustaceans and other deep-sea invertebrates.

SHARK

SHARK

Sharks are a group of fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha or Selachii and are the sister group to the rays. However, the term "shark" has also been used for extinct members of the subclass Elasmobranchii outside the Selachimorpha, such as Cladoselache and Xenacanthus. Under this broader definition, the earliest known sharks date back to more than 420 million years ago.
Since then, sharks have diversified into over 505 species. They range in size from the small dwarf lanternshark Etmopterus perryi, a deep sea species of only 17 centimetres 6.7 in in length, to the whale shark Rhincodon typus, the largest fish in the world, which reaches approximately 12 metres 39 ft in length. Sharks are found in all seas and are common to depths of 2,000 metres 6,600 ft. They generally do not live in freshwater although there are a few known exceptions, such as the bull shark and the river shark, which can survive and be found in both seawater and freshwater. They breathe through five to seven gill slits. Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles that protects their skin from damage and parasites in addition to improving their fluid dynamics. They have several sets of replaceable teeth.
Well-known species such as the great white shark, tiger shark, blue shark, mako shark, and the hammerhead shark are apex predators—organisms at the top of their underwater food chain. Many shark populations are threatened by human activities.

DOLPHIN

Dolphins are cetacean mammals closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from 1.2 m and 40 kg, up to 9.5 m and 10 tonnes.They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves and are carnivores, eating mostly fish and squid. The family Delphinidae, the largest in the order Cetacea, evolved relatively recently, about ten million years ago during the Miocene.
The name is originally from Greek "dolphin",which was related to the Greek , "womb". The animal's name can therefore be interpreted as meaning "a 'fish' with a womb". The name was transmitted via the Latin delphinus, which in Medieval Latin became dolfinus and in Old French dolphin, which reintroduced the into the word. The term mereswine has also historically been used.
A group of dolphins is called a "school" or a "pod". Male dolphins are called "bulls", females "cows" and young dolphins are called "calves".
In 1933, three strange dolphins beached off the Irish coast; they appeared to be hybrids between Risso's and bottlenose dolphins.This mating was later repeated in captivity, producing a hybrid calf. In captivity, a bottlenose and a rough-toothed dolphin produced hybrid offspring. A common-bottlenose hybrid lives at SeaWorld California. Other dolphin hybrids live in captivity around the world or have been reported in the wild, such as a bottlenose-Atlantic spotted hybrid. The best known hybrid is the wolphin, a false killer whale-bottlenose dolphin hybrid. The wolphin is a fertile hybrid. Two wolphins currently live at the Sea Life Park in Hawaii; the first was born in 1985 from a male false killer whale and a female bottlenose. Wolphins have also been observed in the wild.

SEA COW

SEA COW

The Steller's sea cow Hydrodamalis gigas is an extinct herbivorous marine mammal. It was the
largest member of the order Sirenia, which includes its closest living relative, the dugong Dugong dugon, and the manatees Trichechus spp. It reached up to 9 metres in length, making it among the largest mammals other than whales to have existed in the holocene epoch. Although the sea cow had formerly been abundant throughout the North Pacific, by 1741, when it was first described by Georg Wilhelm Steller, chief naturalist on an expedition led by explorer Vitus Bering, its range had been limited to a single, isolated population surrounding the uninhabited Commander Islands. Within 27 years of discovery by Europeans, the slow-moving and easily captured Steller's sea cow was hunted to extinction.
The sea cow grew to at least 8 to 9 m 26 to 30 ft in length as an adult, much larger than the manatee or dugong; however, concerning their weight, Steller's work contains two contradictory estimates: 4 and 24.3 metric tons. The true value is estimated to lie between these figures, at around 8 to 10 t. It looked somewhat like a large seal, but had two stout forelimbs and a whale-like fluke.

GALAPAGOS PENGUIN

GALAPAGOS PENGUIN
The Galapagos penguin is a penguin endemic to the Galapagos Islands. It is the only penguin that lives north of the equator in the wild. It can survive due to the cool temperatures resulting from the Humboldt Current and cool waters from great depths brought up by the Cromwell Current. The Galapagos penguin is one of the banded penguins, the other species of which live mostly on the coasts of Africa and mainland South America.
The penguins stay in the archipelago. They stay by the Cromwell Current during the day since it is cooler and return to the land at night. They eat small schooling fish, mainly mullet, sardines, and sometimes crustaceans. They search for food only during the day and normally within a few kilometers of their breeding site. They depend on the cold nutrient-rich currents to bring them food.
Because of the Galapagos penguin's smaller size, it has many predators. On land, the penguins are preyed upon by crabs, snakes, rice rats, cats, hawks, and owls. While in the water they are preyed upon by sharks, fur seals, and sea lions. They face many hazards due to humans, as well as the hazards of unreliable food resources and volcanic activity. Illegal fishermen may interrupt the penguins’ nesting, and they are often caught in fishing nets by mistake.

BALEEN WHALE

BALEEN WHALE

Baleen is a filter-feeder system inside the mouths of baleen whales. The baleen system works when a whale opens its mouth underwater and the whale takes in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and remain as food source for the whale. Baleen is similar to bristles and is made of keratin, the same substance found in human fingernails and hair. Some whales, such as the bowhead whale, have longer baleen than others. Other whales, such as the gray whale, only use one side of their baleen. These baleen bristles are arranged in plates across the upper jaw of the whale. Baleen is often called whalebone, but that name also can refer to the normal bones of whales, which have often been used as a material, especially as a cheaper substitute for ivory in carving.
Depending on the species, a baleen plate can be 0.5 to 3.5 metres 1.6 to 11.5 ft long, and weigh up to 90 kilograms 200 lb. Its hairy fringes are called baleen hair or whalebone-hair. They are also called baleen bristles, which in sei whales are highly calcified, calcification functioning to increase their stiffness. Baleen plates are broader at the gumline base. The plates have been compared to sieves or Venetian blinds.

TUNA

TUNA

A tuna is a saltwater finfish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a sub-grouping of the mackerel family Scombridae which together with the tunas, also includes the bonitos, mackerels, and Spanish mackerels. Thunnini comprises fifteen species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna max. length: 50 cm 1.6 ft, weight: 1.8 kg 4 lb up to the Atlantic bluefin tuna max. length: 4.6 m 15 ft, weight: 684 kg 1,508 lb. The bluefin averages 2 m 6.6 ft, and is believed to live for up to 50 years.
Their circulatory and respiratory systems are unique among fish, enabling them to maintain a body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water. An active and agile predator, the tuna has a sleek, streamlined body, and is among the fastest-swimming pelagic fish – the yellowfin tuna, for example, is capable of speeds of up to 75 km/h 47 mph. Found in warm seas, it is extensively fished commercially, and is popular as a game fish. As a result of over-fishing, stocks of some tuna species such as the Southern bluefin tuna have been reduced dangerously close to the point of extinction.
The term tuna derives from Thunnus, the Middle Latin form of the Ancient Greek.Tunny-fish which is in turn derived from rush, dart along.

MARINE IGUANA

MARINE IGUANA
The marine iguana is an iguana found only on the Galapagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. The iguana can dive over 9 m into the water.
It has spread to all the islands in the archipelago, and is sometimes called the Galapagos marine iguana. It mainly lives on the rocky Galapagos shore to warm from the comparably cold water, but can also be spotted in marshes and mangrove beaches.
Marine iguanas are medium-sized lizards (200–340 mm, adult snout–vent length) and are unique as they are marine reptiles due to their foraging on inter- and sub tidal algae only. These iguanas forage exclusively in the cold sea, which leads them to behavioral adaptations for thermoregulation.
Amblyrhynchus cristatus is not always black; the young have a lighter coloured dorsal stripe, and some adult specimens are grey, and adult males vary in color with the season. Dark tones allow the lizards to rapidly absorb heat to minimize the period of lethargy after emerging from the water. The marine iguana lacks agility on land but is a graceful swimmer. Its laterally flattened tail and spiky dorsal fins aid in propulsion, while its long, sharp claws allow it to hold onto rocks in strong currents.

SEAL

SEAL

Pinnipeds, colloquially known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of fin-footed, semiaquatic marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae whose only living member is the walrus, Otariidae the eared seals: sea lions and fur seals, and Phocidae the earless, or true seals. There are 33 extant species of pinnipeds, and more than 50 extinct species have been described from fossils. While seals were historically thought to have descended from two ancestral lines, molecular evidence supports them as a monophyletic lineage descended from one ancestral line. Pinnipeds belong to the order Carnivora and their closest living relatives are bears and musteloids weasels, raccoons and skunks.
Seals range in size from the 1 m 3 ft 3 in and 45 kg 99 lb Baikal seal to the 5 m 16 ft and 3,200 kg 7,100 lb southern elephant seal, which is also the largest carnivoran. Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism. They have streamlined bodies and four limbs that are modified into flippers. Though not as fast in the water as dolphins, seals are more flexible and agile. Otariids use their front limbs primarily to propel themselves through the water, while phocids and walruses use their hind limbs. Otariids and walruses have hind limbs that can be pulled under the body and used as legs on land. By comparison, terrestrial locomotion by phocids is more cumbersome. Otariids have visible external ears, while phocids and walruses lack these. Pinnipeds have well-developed senses—their eyesight and hearing are adapted for both air and water, and they have an advanced tactile system in their whiskers or vibrissae. Some species are well adapted for diving to great depths. They have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin to keep warm in the cold water, and, other than the walrus, all species are covered in fur.

PACIFIC SALMAN

PACIFIC SALMON

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Other fish in the same family include trout, char, grayling and whitefish. Salmon are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Many species of salmon have been introduced into non-native environments such as the Great Lakes of North America and Patagonia in South America. Salmon are intensively produced in aquaculture in many parts of the world.
The term "salmon" comes from the Latin salmo, which in turn may have originated from salire, meaning "to leap".The nine commercially important species of salmon occur in two genera. The genus Salmo contains the Atlantic salmon, found in the north Atlantic, as well as many species commonly named trout. The genus Oncorhynchus contains eight species which occur naturally only in the north Pacific. As a group, these are known as Pacific salmon. Chinook salmon have been introduced in New Zealand and Patagonia. Coho, Kokanee and Atlantic salmon have been established in Patagonia as well.
Typically, salmon are anadromous: they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. However, populations of several species are restricted to fresh water through their lives. Various species of salmon display anadromous life strategies while others display freshwater resident life strategies. Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact spot where they were born to spawn; tracking studies have shown this to be mostly true. A portion of a returning salmon run may stray and spawn in different freshwater systems. The percent of straying depends on the specie of salmon. Homing behavior has been shown to depend on olfactory memory.

SEA LION

SEA LION

Sea lions are sea mammals characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short, thick hair. Together with the fur seals, they comprise the family Otariidae, eared seals, which contains six extant and one extinct species the Japanese sea lion in five genera. Their range extends from the subarctic to tropical waters of the global ocean in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, with the notable exception of the northern Atlantic Ocean. They have an average lifespan of 20–30 years. A male California sea lion weighs on average about 300 kg 660 lb and is about 8 ft 2.4 m long, while the female sea lion weighs 100 kg 220 lb and is 6 ft 1.8 m long. The largest sea lion is Steller's sea lion, which can weigh 1,000 kg 2,200 lb and grow to a length of 10 ft 3.0 m. Sea lions consume large quantities of food at a time and are known to eat about 5–8% of their body weight about 15–35 lb 6.8–15.9 kg at a single feeding.
The name sea lion is somewhat misleading, as sea lions are only distantly related to lions and other felines. Sea lions evolved from the canines, splitting from the bear line after it split from other dogs. But still all sea lions make a roaring sound and the males of some species like the southern sea lion have a lionlike mane.

BLUE WHALE

BLUE WHALE

The blue whale Balaenoptera musculus is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whales Mysticet. At 30 metres 98 ft in length and 190 tonnes 210 short tons or more in weight, it is the largest existing animal and the heaviest that has ever existed.
Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. There are at least three distinct subspecies: B. m. musculus of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, B. m. intermedia of the Southern Ocean and B. m. brevicauda also known as the pygmy blue whale found in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. B. m. indica, found in the Indian Ocean, may be another subspecies. As with other baleen whales, its diet consists almost exclusively of small crustaceans known as krill.
Blue whales were abundant in nearly all the oceans on Earth until the beginning of the twentieth century. For over a century, they were hunted almost to extinction by whalers until protected by the international community in 1966. A 2002 report estimated there were 5,000 to 12,000 blue whales worldwide, located in at least five groups. More recent research into the Pygmy subspecies suggests this may be an underestimate. Before whaling, the largest population was in the Antarctic, numbering approximately 239,000 range 202,000 to 311,000. There remain only much smaller around 2,000 concentrations in each of the eastern North Pacific, Antarctic, and Indian Ocean groups. There are two more groups in the North Atlantic, and at least two in the Southern Hemisphere. As of 2014, the Californian blue whale population has rebounded to nearly its pre-hunting population.

GOAT

GOAT

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bovidae and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae.
There are over 300 distinct breeds of goat.Goats are one of the oldest domesticated species, and have been used for their milk, meat, hair, and skins over much of the world.In 2011, there were more than 924 million live goats around the globe, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Female goats are referred to as "does" or "nannies", intact males as "bucks", "billies", or "rams" and their offspring are "kids". Castrated males are "wethers". Goat meat from younger animals is called "kid" or cabrito and from older animals is simply known as "goat" or sometimes called chevon or in some areas "mutton".
Goats are among the earliest animals domesticated by humans.The most recent genetic analysis confirms the archaeological evidence that the wild Bezoar ibex of the Zagros Mountains are the likely origin of almost all domestic goats today.
Goats are considered small livestock animals, compared to bigger animals such as cattle, camels and horses, but larger than micro livestock such as poultry, rabbits, cavies, and bees.

POLAR BEAR

POLAR BEAR

The polar bear Ursus maritimus is a carnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is a large bear, approximately the same size as the omnivorous Kodiak bear Ursus arctos middendorffi. A boar adult male weighs around 350–700 kg 770–1,540 lb, while a sow adult female is about half that size. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice, and open water, and for hunting the seals which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, they spend most of their time at sea. Their scientific name means "maritime bear", and derives from this fact. Polar bears hunt their preferred food of seals from the edge of sea ice, often living off fat reserves when no sea ice is present.
The polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species, with eight of the nineteen polar bear subpopulations in decline. For decades, large scale hunting raised international concern for the future of the species but populations rebounded after controls and quotas began to take effect.citation needed For thousands of years, the polar bear has been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of Arctic indigenous peoples, and polar bears remain important in their cultures.

LEOPARD

LEOPARD

The leopard Panthera pardus is one of the five "big cats" in the genus Panthera. It is a member of the Felidae family with a wide range in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia to Siberia.
Compared to other members of the Felidae, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more slightly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the jaguars do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are known as black panthers.
The species' success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour 36 mph, its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass, and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal that it can hunt down and catch. Its habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains.
Leopards show a great diversity in coat color and rosettes patterns. In general, the coat color varies from pale yellow to deep gold or tawny, and is patterned with black rosettes.

CAT

CAT

The domestic cat Felis catus or Felis silvestris catus is a small, usually furry, domesticated, and carnivorous mammal. They are often called a housecat when kept as an indoor pet,[6] or simply a cat when there is no need to distinguish them from other felids and felines. Cats are often valued by humans for companionship, and their ability to hunt vermin and household pests.
Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felids, with strong, flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teeth adapted to killing small prey. Cat senses fit a crepuscular and predatory ecological niche. Cats can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small animals. They can see in near darkness. Like most other mammals, cats have poorer color vision and a better sense of smell than humans.
Despite being solitary hunters, cats are a social species, and cat communication includes the use of a variety of vocalizations mewing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling, and grunting, as well as cat pheromones, and types of cat-specific body language.
Cats have a high breeding rate. Under controlled breeding, they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, a hobby known as cat fancy. Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by neutering, and the abandonment of former household pets, has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, requiring population control.