Sean K Todd
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 8
Language
English
Description
Mammals are certainly represented in ocean life, but which species should be identified as "marine" when considering ocean productivity? The extremely complex marine food webs maintain long-term stability, even as they undergo natural perturbations over time. But when Homo sapiens enters as an apex predator, productivity can deteriorate, and systems can even collapse.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 5
Language
English
Description
Phytoplankton form the base of almost all marine food chains, including that of the blue whale, the largest animal known to have ever existed. But far below the penetration of sunlight, a very different and only recently discovered food web relies solely on the chemosynthetic ability of bacteria.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 4
Language
English
Description
Beach organisms exist with the constantly changing winds, waves, and tides (sometimes underwater, sometimes fully exposed to the air). Life in estuaries, where rivers meet the oceans, face constant fluctuations in environmental salinity. And hard corals are continually pummeled by wave action. Yet each of these physically challenging environments can be diverse and fecund ecosystems.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 21
Language
English
Description
Semi-aquatic marine mammals exhibit behaviors quite different than those who live fully in the water. In the former, an entire female community in one geographic area can come into estrus simultaneously and needs relatively few males to reproduce. In the latter, reproduction appears to be one of the driving forces of whale songs that can be heard over thousands of kilometers.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 20
Language
English
Description
With plastic and nylon lines and nets becoming common in the last century, by-catch became an even greater problem for the marine mammals. When the media picked up the story in the mid-1960s, the public became engaged, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed in 1972. But whale entanglement remains a problem, and some argue that even whaling was far less cruel.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 24
Language
English
Description
Within their own species, marine mammals have developed sophisticated communication. In captivity, we know they can be trained to learn rules, which indicates higher cognitive function. And even in the wild, we have documented some extraordinary instances of learning and cultural transmission of information. But is their intelligence comparable to our own?
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 28
Language
English
Description
Most of us seem to have a natural instinct to want to help a stranded marine mammal, but it requires very specific skills to render aid without causing further stress and harm. Even with the best intentions and professional assistance, not all animals can be saved. What can we learn from these strandings-no matter how they end-and where are they most likely to occur?
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 16
Language
English
Description
For all practical purposes, terrestrial mammals live on a plane. Marine mammals, on the other hand, navigate a more viscous, three-dimensional environment with all its opportunities and challenges. We understand their propulsion mechanisms fairly well. But how do they control their buoyancy to position themselves in the water column? We don't yet have the answers.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 15
Language
English
Description
If you've ever jumped into frigid water, you quickly realize humans are definitely not adapted to life in the sea. What are we missing? In a word, it's blubber. In fact, blubber is such a successful insulator that marine mammals have evolved internal and external means for getting rid of all that heat, possibly even including planetary migrations.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 17
Language
English
Description
Not surprisingly, deep-diving marine mammals have evolved a physiology very different than our own. Adaptations including those related to blood chemistry, the location of stored oxygen, a variable heart rate, and articulated rib cages support the ability to go deep and stay long. But what about rising back up to the surface? How do they avoid getting "the bends"?
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 29
Language
English
Description
Our high-tech use of the ocean for food, transportation, and energy has far-reaching effects, particularly on certain species. Focusing on issues from noise pollution to microplastics, we can mitigate our impact to provide better futures for ourselves as well as for marine life. The work begins with understanding the extent of our true impacts.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 27
Language
English
Description
Although the irony is unmistakable, our understanding of marine mammals increased tremendously by having access to carcasses during the years of industrial whaling. Today, we focus on species protection while learning as much as we can via SCUBA, SONAR, tagging, biopsy darts, photo-identification, studying animals in captivity, and examining stranded individuals when available.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 25
Language
English
Description
Are marine mammals to be exploited as a resource? Or are they intelligent creatures to be revered with an almost religious admiration? Your answer might depend to some extent on your country and culture of origin. Our relationship with these impressive animals continues to evolve as we increase our understanding of their biology, cognition, and sociality.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 2
Language
English
Description
No matter where you live, your climate, weather, and even available foods are determined to a great extent by ocean circulation. The uneven heating of the Earth by the Sun and the Coriolis effect result in vast circulation cells of air above the Earth, the movement of huge water masses in the oceans, and resultant "hot spots" of marine life.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 12
Language
English
Description
While the reptilian evolution of the amniotic egg allowed animals to move completely from the sea onto land, some reptiles retained strong marine ties. These include sea turtles and sea birds whose wide variety of adaptations allow for drinking saltwater, remaining underwater for long periods, and flying great distances using very little energy.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 18
Language
English
Description
Sound travels much better in water than in air. In fact, low-frequency waves, such as those produced by certain whales, can travel through water uninterrupted for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, allowing the animals to be "in touch" with their group over vast distances. But what happens when human-generated sound gets in the way?
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 23
Language
English
Description
With 60 million years of evolution on their side, marine mammals have adapted to the widest possible variety of marine ecological niches. Some live only in rivers or lakes, others only in waters over the continental shelves, and some in the open ocean. A few are even adapted to live at the poles.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 1
Language
English
Description
So much of what we take for granted about our world (from our body's access to and use of nutrients, to our planet's liquid oceans, to the ice floating in your glass of soda) is a direct cause of the structure and polarity of H2O. Learn how those specific properties make water the essential ingredient for life as we know it.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 26
Language
English
Description
Over and over, humans have behaved as if a given resource were inexhaustible. That was certainly the case with worldwide industrial whaling of the early 20th century, when six species of whales were hunted to dangerously low numbers. In the near future, as their populations continue to recover, some countries are expected to promote a resumption of the commercial whale hunt.
Author
Series
Life in the World's Oceans volume 9
Language
English
Description
Through 550 million years of evolution, fish have developed a wide variety of adaptations to the unique demands of living in a watery and mostly dark world. Learn how gills, swim bladders, bioluminescence, chemosensory glands, echolocation, and electrolocation have allowed fish to succeed in almost every type of ocean environment. Which fish are our ancestors? You might be surprised.