1. What is another name for the creature referred to as the bladdernose?

2. Breech births (wherein the offspring is born feet or backside first) can result in suffocation for the newborn. Whales, however, are normally breech-born. How do they avoid suffocation?

3. What does it mean when you hear that a whale has breached?

4. The humpback whale is an extremely large animal, weighing in at an average of 35 tons but as much as 1,000 pounds of this bulk can be attributed to an external factor. Name it.

5. One of the chief differences between a sea lion and what is referred to as a true seal is the mammal's ears. In what way do the two creatures' ears differ?

6. By what more familiar name is the sea cow known?

7. Ocean goers may, on occasion, come upon an elver. What is an elver?

8. What is the name of the largest seagoing reptile?

9. Molly, a pony abandoned after Hurricane Katrina; Christy, a sand hill crane; Penny the wolfhound; and Winter, a dolphin, all have this feature in common. Name the feature.

10. The number of heart chambers of amphibians, fishes and mammals all differ. How many heart chambers does each have?

Answers

1. It is another name for the hooded seal. The name "bladdernose" is derived from an inflatable sac on the male seal's nose that inflates when it is angry at other males, especially during mating season.

2. The newborn whale doesn't breathe until after it has emerged and reached the surface of the water.

3. A whale is said to be breaching when it leaps partly or sometimes completely out of the water.

4. Barnacles, those annoying crustaceans that also plague boat owners.

5. The sea lion has external ears; the seal does not.

6. The manatee.

7. An elver is a young eel.

8. It is the giant sea turtle, which can range in size up to about eight feet.

9. Each of these animals has received artificial appendages or prosthetics.

10. Fish have two main chambers, amphibians have three and mammals have four.

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