The vastness of the seas and oceans is still a great mystery today. Underwater water amazes many scientists and even photographers.
Regardless of being vertebrates or invertebrates, lives that stay in water for the most part of their lives are called water animals.
Water or aquatic animals may extract oxygen or breathe air from water through especially characterized breathing organs, called gills, or even through the skin.
Many other characteristics of these aquatic animals can attract many photographers and scientists. So, here, we will discuss some amazing facts about water animals.
Astonishing Water Animals Facts
👉 Dolphins may be found all over the world.
There are almost 36 species of marine dolphins. They live in aquatic environments, including coastal, estuarine, freshwater, and oceans.
These mammals can live in temperatures that range from less than 0 degrees to over 30 degrees Celsius.
In Britain, specific dolphin species called the bottleneck dolphins are concentrated around eastern Scotland and west Wales. Also, the coasts of Scotland and Devon have large pods.
👉 The dolphins are really fast sprinters.
Though bottleneck dolphins are very slow swimmers, as they can travel around two mph; however, they are good sprinters because they can reach speeds of more than 30 mph for some brief periods.
Also, this dolphin species swallow the head of a fish first, and hence the spines of that fish don’t catch in their throat.
👉 Many fish have more than one set of nostrils.
The nostrils of fish cannot open into the back part of their mouth, so they are not used for breathing.
They usually work as organs of smell, so they are sensitive for fish to determine the presence of food in the water at long distances. Also, the more nostrils they have, the more smelling power they can enjoy.
👉 Dolphins are intelligent animals.
Bottleneck dolphins are a few animals that can recognize themselves in the mirror. This can tell you about their amazing intelligence.
Also, dolphins are among those few water animals that have been documented using tools. In Western Australia’s Shark Bay, dolphins can fit marine sponges over their beaks and hence, can protect themselves from harmful, sharp rocks as they forage for fish.
👉 Some of them can create high sounds.
Marine mammals, like whales and dolphins, can use underwater sound as their main method to communicate with each other and even assess their environment. Most toothed whales can create short ultrasonic clicks.
Also, dolphins are very chatty mammals, as they can create sounds in the kingdom of water animals.
These mammals can make different sounds, such as moans, clicks, whistles, barks, squeaks, yelps, squawks, and groans.
👉 Blue Whales are the world’s largest animals.
Blue whales hold the title of the largest mammals on earth with their approx weight of 150 tons and length of more than 100 feet.
The largest blue whale ever recorded was a shocking 110 feet in length. In contrast, the heaviest blue whale was really large, with a weight of about 418,878 pounds.
This incredible weight was similar to the total weight of 30 elephants or almost 2500 people.
👉 Whales can store oxygen.
Whales have incredible lung capacity. Some animals, like sperm whales, usually spend much of their time searching for delicacies within the ocean.
Feeding on those small animals needs time to get down to a lot deeper under the ocean, and hence, they need to hold their breath underwater for almost 60 to 90 minutes.
According to scientists, the presence of two blowholes helps them maximize their use of oxygen while they can slow their breathing and reduce their heart rate. Thus, they can exhale efficiently and can remain active underwater.
👉 Underwater noise pollution is a threat to dolphins.
Marine traffic near the British Isles is one of the heaviest traffic anywhere in the world. Noise pollution originating from the oil and gas industry, naval activity, underwater construction, and seismic surveys can stun or even injure cetaceans.
It can even severely interfere with their ability to reproduce, communicate, find prey, and even navigate, which sometimes may prove to be fatal.
👉 Fishing Gear is a significant threat to dolphins.
Various dolphin species are often killed accidentally in driftnets, gillnets, trawls, purse seines, and even longlines and hook-and-line gears used in fisheries.
In the water of UK, bottlenose dolphins are one of the water animals most threatened by bycatch.
Thus, many organizations are working around the world to encourage the use of sustainable fishing gear to save these aquatic mammals.
Some of them are even suggesting adding acoustic alarms or ‘pingers’ to help dolphins in avoiding those fishing gear.
👉 The mating of some specific water animals
When these specific fish species select a partner, it’s for their entire life. If one dies, the remaining one won’t breed with any other in their entire lifetime.
In contrast, when a male octopus mates with a female octopus, the male one experiences acute memory loss called dementia. He swims around forever after the mating procedure and cannot remember anything.
Also, when they hatch, the newborn octopuses can be smaller than your pinky finger.
👉 The tongue of a blue whale can be heavier than an elephant
Famous as the largest animal on Earth, a full-grown blue whale can be incredibly heavy.
Just the tongue of a blue whale may weigh more than an elephant, meaning this tongue can be heavier than 7000 kilograms.
👉 The great white shark
The great white shark is one of the most feared aquatic animals in the world. It can grow almost 20 feet long and weigh more than 5000 pounds.
However, these are not the most dangerous water animals despite their reputation. More people are killed yearly by hippos and crocodiles than by sharks.
👉 Sea horses and Sea otters
The sea horse is one of the few aquatic animals where the male becomes pregnant and gives birth to their young.
The female sea horse deposits the eggs into a pouch on the abdomen of a male sea horse, where they are fertilized and incubated until they are ready to hatch.
Sea otters are another kind of water animal that is famous for using tools. These animals can use rocks to crack open the shells of their favorite food, mussels, and clams.
👉 The jellyfish and the electric eel
The jellyfish is one of the oldest water animals in the world, as these have been around for more than 500 years.
Though these water animals don’t have hearts, brains, or bones, they can still sting and capture their prey with their tentacles.
The electric eel is actually not an eel but rather a type of fish. This creature can generate electricity from the specialized cells in their bodies, which they can use to stun their prey and defend themselves from predators.
👉 The octopus and the platypus
The octopus is a highly intelligent water animal that can solve puzzles and even escape from aquariums.
These animals are also masters in disguise and even change the texture and color of their skin to blend in with their surroundings.
The platypus is another unique water animal that can be seen in Australia. It is one of those few mammals that lay eggs and even has webbed feet and a duck-like bill.
👉 Lobsters pee on each other to communicate.
Lobsters pee out of their face. The urine nozzles under their eyes help them communicate by peeing on each other; these water creatures can send messages vital for survival.
Another important water animal, the flatfish, is born like other fishes; however, as they grow, they flatten gradually.
Also, lobsters can re-grow an arm or an eye, just like sea stars or lizards. However, the new one will be a little smaller than the first.
👉 The eggs of scorpionfish
The eggs of scorpionfish need just two days to hatch, unlike most animals which need to endure long pregnancies.
These water animals release the eggs into the water, and then those eggs are fertilized by the males and hatched within just two days.
👉 Sea horses are special.
Seahorses have no stomach and no teeth. Still, they can be regarded as one of the most vicious predators, as their sneaky hunting techniques give them a 90% killing rate.
These are the only fish with a prehensile tail and a neck that can grab on anything, like coral, grass, or even mating partners.
Also, these creatures can perform courtship dance for a week before mating and can be regarded as masters of disguise, as they can change the color and shape of their skin to blend in with their surrounding environment.
👉 Poisonous water animals
Though not listed as one of the most fearsome water animals, the poison carried by stonefish is the most dangerous in the ocean. Also, these creatures can camouflage.
Pufferfish are another water animal with poison in a specific part of its body.
The lionfish is another famous poisonous water creature that lives under the ocean.
👉 The anglerfish and the clownfish
The anglerfish is a deep-sea water creature using a bioluminescent lure to attract prey. The female anglerfish is much larger in size than the male and has a particular organ for holding onto her mate.
Another famous water animal is the clownfish, which lives in symbiosis with sea anemones. The clownfish protects the sea anemone from predators, whereas the sea anemone protects them by stinging predators.
So, water animals make up a fascinating and diverse group of creatures inhabiting rivers, oceans, lakes, and other water bodies.
At the end of this article, we learned about 20 really amazing facts about these fascinating creatures called water animals.
These facts offer us a clear picture of different aquatic animals. If you want to collect some more amazing facts, you may visit our website.
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