Wildlife Trivia: How Well Do You Know Marine Mammals?
- Natural history
Put your marine mammal knowledge to the test! Only one of the wildlife trivia statements below is true. Can you guess which one, or will you be fooled? Click Show More + to find out!
True or False: Northern elephant seals can dive to a maximum depth of 1,500 feet.
False! Northern elephant seals can swim to depths of more than 5,000 feet—that’s about a mile!
Northern elephant seals spend most of their time in the open ocean, only coming to shore twice a year to breed and molt, or shed their fur. Sometimes, strong storms sweep young pups off the beach before they are ready to be on their own. During pupping season, our hospital is flooded with orphaned seal pups.
True or False: Every humpback whale vocalizes or “sings” a song that is uniquely their own.
False! While the songs vocalized by humpback whales can change over the years, all males in a population sing the same song on a given year.
Their songs can last for up to 20 minutes and cover many octaves and include frequencies beyond the threshold of human hearing. When a humpback whale is singing, it floats suspended in the water, head down and relatively motionless.
Learn more about our work protecting whales, dolphins and porpoises.
True or False: Most California sea lion pups are born in June each year.
True! California sea lions breed, birth and wean simultaneously, which scientists call “synchronized reproduction.”
Sea lions return to their rookeries (or breeding beaches) in Southern and Central California each summer where females give birth to their pups. Newborn pups weigh 13 to 20 pounds and stay with their mother for about a year as they nurse and learn important survival skills, like how to swim and forage for food.
You can help the next animal in need when you adopt a past California sea lion patient.
Enjoyed This Animal Trivia? Discover More Ocean-Themed Activities
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Yes, I want to save a life!
You’ll be giving sick and injured animals the best possible care at the Center’s state-of-the-art hospital. With your gift today, you are giving a patient a second chance at life in the wild.
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Harbor Seal
California Sea Lion
Southern Sea Otter