COLDWATERS C I E N C EA journal of marine life
& ocean exploration
COLDWATER SCIENCE / ANIMAL FIELD GUIDES
Meet the sharks, whales, dolphins, turtles and smaller animals that make an ocean. Explore their food, habitats, adaptations and the questions scientists are still investigating.
60 animal articles · Scientific references · Credited cover images
60 articles · Page 2 of 3
Cinematic digital illustrationSea turtles
Leatherback turtles combine a skin-covered shell reinforced by small bones with flippers, prey-retaining mouth structures, and heat-conserving physiology. These traits support oceanic travel and feeding in cold waters, while migration patterns vary among populations.
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Wildlife photographOtters and coastal mammals
Pacific walruses use sensitive whiskers to locate seafloor prey and suction to draw soft animals into the mouth. Their tusks are elongated upper canines, while sea ice and coastal haulouts provide places to rest.
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Hand-tinted engraving styleRays and reef fish
Seahorses are fishes whose stiff, armored bodies and small fins suit maneuvering more than sustained swimming. Their coiling tails anchor them to cover, while the male brood pouch carries developing young after eggs are transferred.
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Wildlife photographInvertebrates
American lobsters grow by molting, use their differently shaped claws for different tasks, and carry eggs beneath the tail. Their age is difficult to establish, so size and possible longevity estimates should not be mistaken for a known birthday or lifespan.
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Wildlife photographSharks
Basking sharks feed by swimming with mouths open, using gill rakers to intercept zooplankton from passing water. Surface sightings reflect prey, movement, visibility and survey effort, so a regional record decline is informative but cannot be read as a direct census.
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Wildlife photographWhales
North Atlantic right whales have a stocky body without a dorsal fin and pale callosity patterns used for photo-identification. Entanglement, vessel strikes and poor surface visibility complicate recovery, while US waters carry a 500-yard approach restriction.
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Wildlife photographDolphins and porpoises
Risso’s dolphins have a blunt, creased forehead, a tall curved dorsal fin and a distinctive shift from dark, lightly marked calves to often pale, scarred adults. Squid dominate reported diets, while scars and color remain imperfect clues to age or cause.
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Wildlife photographSea turtles
Kemp’s ridley turtles are small sea turtles whose synchronized daytime nesting is concentrated mainly in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Their broader occurrence, including juvenile movements, differs from that breeding core, and shell traits must be read alongside geography and life stage.
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Wildlife photographOtters and coastal mammals
Harbor seals rest, molt and raise pups at haulouts, and their whiskers can detect underwater wakes. A lone pup is not automatically abandoned: keep away, do not handle it, and contact authorized responders about apparent injury.
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Wildlife photographRays and reef fish
Lionfish in the western Atlantic are two Indo-Pacific species whose spread is linked to an uncertain introduction pathway, likely aquarium releases. Their diet, venomous spines, invasion history and site-level control explain both their ecological impact and the limits of removal.
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Cyanotype-style artworkInvertebrates
A moon jelly’s familiar bell is only its swimming adult stage. Across the genus Aurelia, sexual reproduction, settling larvae, attached polyps, budding and strobilation connect that visible medusa to less visible stages that can produce many young jellies.
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Wildlife photographSharks
Scalloped hammerheads are recognizable by a notched, arched head margin, but some look-alike species cannot be separated reliably from appearance alone. Their schooling, varied prey and nursery use shape their ecology; US ESA listings differ by population segment.
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Wildlife photographWhales
Bowheads combine a thick insulating blubber layer, a large skull, and long baleen with seasonal movement around Arctic sea ice. Evidence suggests some live for centuries, but several independent methods estimate age, and none provides an exact birthday or known maximum lifespan.
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Wildlife photographDolphins and porpoises
Pacific white-sided dolphins combine a robust body, short rostrum, conspicuous dorsal fin and pale flank stripes with a range spanning both sides of the temperate North Pacific. Their schooling-fish and squid diet, group behavior and identification limits help explain what a sighting can—and cannot—show.
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Wildlife photographSea turtles
Olive ridley turtles combine flexible nesting behavior with broad tropical ocean distribution. Females may nest alone or in synchronized arribadas, while variable shell scute counts and post-breeding offshore movements require careful interpretation of identification and tracking evidence.
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Wildlife photographOtters and coastal mammals
Northern elephant seals divide their lives between long offshore journeys and brief, demanding periods on land. Their repeated dives, breeding fasts and seasonal molt reflect linked adaptations, while a seal resting on a beach may be behaving normally.
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Wildlife photographRays and reef fish
Clown anemonefish combine a specialized relationship with compatible host anemones and a size-based breeding hierarchy. Evidence for Amphiprion ocellaris and A. percula must be kept distinct when explaining appearance, mucus protection, social roles, sex change and egg care.
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Wildlife photographInvertebrates
Giant clams combine suspension feeding with nutritional support from photosynthetic dinoflagellates living in mantle tubules. Their size, shell form and reef habitat vary by species; the largest, Tridacna gigas, faces documented harvest pressure across much of its range.
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Wildlife photographSharks
The great hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran, is identified most reliably by a combination of head shape, dorsal-fin profile and pelvic-fin edges. Its prey, coastal and offshore habitats, and juvenile nursery areas help explain how it lives, but size alone cannot identify it.
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Wildlife photographWhales
Fin whales combine a streamlined body and far-back hooked dorsal fin with a strikingly uneven lower-jaw color pattern. Their expandable throat and baleen support rapid lunge feeding, while prey, habitat use and seasonal movements vary across ocean regions.
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Wildlife photographDolphins and porpoises
Hector’s dolphins are small New Zealand dolphins recognized by a rounded dorsal fin, short snout and gray, black and white markings. Geography helps distinguish the Hector’s and Māui subspecies, but appearance alone cannot reliably separate them; location, reporting details and, when needed, genetic evidence matter.
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Wildlife photographSea turtles
Flatback turtles are Australian-nesting sea turtles adapted to continental-shelf and shallow coastal habitats. Their low, broad shell, soft-bodied prey, and shelf-associated early life distinguish them, while nesting season and feeding range vary by region.
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Wildlife photographOtters and coastal mammals
Dugongs are marine sirenians adapted to coastal seagrass meadows. Their fluked tails and feeding ecology help distinguish them from manatees, while shared ancestry and a distant surface view can make identification less certain than a simple nickname suggests.
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Wildlife photographRays and reef fish
Pufferfish anatomy includes water-driven inflation, a fused-tooth beak and no pelvic fins, while toxin risks vary among species and regions. Distinguishing puffers from porcupinefishes and separating tetrodotoxin from saxitoxin prevents unsafe generalizations about identification or food preparation.
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