Marine Mammals Avoid Freezing to Death?

Have you ever wondered how marine mammals like seals,sea lions,,walruses,otters,whales,etc.withstand the freezing cold of seawater?

Marine mammals live mostly in seas and oceans in almost all parts of the world.They maintain a warm body temperature even in the icy waters nearer to the poles because of their physiological and behavioural adaptations.Their physiological adaptations include having a large body size,as most marine mammals do,which helps them to retain their heart effectively,and a special kind of insulation in the form of fur or blubber,that protects them from the extreme cold of their surroundings.

The sea otter has the densest hair of any mammal:1,30,000 hairs per square centimetre of skin!The otter’s fur is so dense that it can trap a layer of air even when the animal is deep inside the sea.Many other marine mammals have blubber-a special protective layer of the skin containing fat as well as proteins -which provides insulation and energy storage.

The behavioural response of marine mammals to avoid frigid waters is migration.In the winter,for instance,right whales migrate from frozen waters to warmer seas to give birth to their younger.

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