Marine Living

Definition:

Baleen is a strong, yet flexible material made out of keratin, a protein that is the same material that makes up our hair and fingernails. It is used by whales to filter their prey from the sea water.

Whales in the Suborder Mysticeti have several hundred plates of baleen hanging from their upper jaw. Like our fingernails, the baleen grows continuously. The baleen plates are about a quarter-inch apart and are smooth on the outer edge but have a hairy fringe on the inner edge. The fringe on the plates overlaps and creates a mesh-like strainer inside the whale's mouth. The whale uses this strainer to trap its prey (usually small schooling fish, crustaceans or plankton) while it filters out the sea water, which it cannot drink in large quantities.

Some baleen whales, like the humpback whale, feed by gulping large amounts of prey and water and then using their tongue to force the water out in between the baleen plates. Other whales, like right whales, are skim feeders, and move slowly through the water with their mouths open as the water flows in the front of the mouth and out in between the baleen. Along the way, tiny plankton are trapped by the right whale's fine baleen hairs.

Baleen is historically important as it was sought by whalers, who called it whalebone, even though it is not made of bone at all. The baleen was used in many things such as in corsets, buggy whips, and umbrella ribs.

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Lobsters are bright red on your plate, but they are usually a brownish-green in the wild. What happens between the sea and the dinner table to turn them bright red?Answer:

When you think of a lobster, you might think of a bright red creature, as that is what they look like when they're cooked. That's also the creature that the state of Maine had on their license plate until just a few years ago, making them the only state to have a dead animal on their license plate!

However, most lobsters are a brown to olive-green color in the wild, with only a reddish tinge. Lobsters are also occasionally unusual colors such as blue or even orange. When one of these curious creatures is caught by a lobsterman, it's usually big news, as these unusual colorations are a rarity.

Lobsters have a carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin in their shell, which provides a red coloring. However, in most lobsters, this reddish color is mixed with other colors to form the lobster's normal, often duller coloration. This coloration helps the lobster blend in well with its surroundings.

Astaxanthin is stable in heat, while the other pigments are not. This means that when a lobster is cooked, the other pigments break down, leaving only the bright red astaxanthin, thus a bright red lobster on your plate!

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The open ocean, or pelagic zone, is the area of the ocean outside of coastal areas, and where you’ll find some of the biggest marine life species. The sea floor (demersal zone) is not included in the pelagic zone.

The pelagic zone is separated into several subzones depending on water depth:

Epipelagic zone (ocean surface to 200 meters deep)Mesopelagic zone (200-1,000m)Bathypelagic zone (1,000-4,000m)Abyssopelagic zone (4,000-6,000m)Hadopelagic zone (deep ocean trenches, greater than 6,000m).

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Here's a second image of the creature featured here - do you know the species?

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Definition:

The term phylum is one of seven major categories that are used to classify organisms. In order of broad to specific, these seven categories are: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. Carolus Linnaeus developed this system of classification in the 18th century.

Any organism that has been identified and scientifically described is put into each of the seven categories above. Studying an organism's classification can tell us what other organisms it is similar to.

Marine organisms are divided into many different phyla. All animals with a notochord (vertebrates) are in their own phyla, the Chordata. The rest of the animals are divided up into a very diverse array of invertebrate phyla. Some of the more well-known invertebrate phyla are include the: echinodermata, arthropoda, annelida, mollusca and Cnidaria.

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There are over 80 recognized species of cetaceans, and these species are divided into two main groups: the baleen whales and the toothed whales. While they are all considered whales, there are some important differences between the two types.Answer: Are generally larger than toothed whales. The largest animal in the world, the blue whale, is a baleen whale.Feed on smaller fish and plankton with a filtering system made up of hundreds of baleen plates.Tend to be solitary, although they occasionally gather in groups to feed or to travel.Have two blowholes on top of their head, one right next to the other.

Female baleen whales are also larger than males of the same species.

Examples of baleen whales include the blue whale, fin whale, and humpback whale. Are generally smaller than baleen whales, although there are some exceptions (e.g., the sperm whale and Baird's beaked whale). The toothed whales include all species of dolphins and porpoises.Are active predators and have teeth that they use to catch their prey and swallow it whole. The prey varies depending on species, but can include fish, seals, sea lions or even other whales.Have a much stronger social structure than baleen whales, often gathering in pods with a stable social structure.Have one blowhole on top of their head.

Unlike baleen whales, males of toothed whales species are usually larger than females.

Examples of toothed whales include the beluga whale, bottlenose dolphin, and common dolphin.

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Can you guess the species shown here?

Image ? Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation

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