Introduction to Marine Mammals

Mammals are a special group of animals, with a combination of characteristics that separate them from all others: mammals are warm-blooded, have hair or fur, breathe air through lungs, bear live young, and nurse young with milk produced by mammary glands.

Marine mammals have the same characteristics as all other mammals, but they have adapted or adjusted to life in the ocean. To keep warm in the ocean, most of them depend more upon a thick layer of blubber or fat than on thick fur. They have streamlined bodies to help them swim faster. They can stay under water for a long time, but must come to the surface to breathe. To be able to stay under water for long periods, they store extra oxygen in their muscles and blood. They also have more blood than land mammals in proportion to their body sizes, can direct their blood flow to only their vital organs (such as their heart and lungs), and can slow their heartbeat down so they are using less oxygen in a dive.

All marine mammals are protected in the United States by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. There are also international laws and treaties that protect marine mammals. Unfortunately, there are still threats to marine mammal populations, such as illegal hunting, pollution, and habitat loss. Learn more about these issues and tell others, including lawmakers, how you feel about them. Together, we can solve or prevent many of the problems our ocean friends face.

There are five distinct groups of marine mammals:
Pinnipeds - seals, sea lions, fur seals and walruses
Sea otters
Cetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises
Sirenians - dugongs and manatees
Polar bears
Endangered Marine Mammals

For more information on the classification and characteristics of the five groups of marine mammals, see our Marine Mammal Classification page.