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Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine (saltwater) ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans ( whales , dolphins and porpoises ), pinnipeds ( seals , sea lions and walruses ), sirenians ( manatees and dugongs ), sea otters and polar bears .
Marine mammals comprise over 130 living and recently extinct species in three taxonomic orders. The Society for Marine Mammalogy , an international scientific society , maintains a list of valid species and subspecies , most recently updated in October 2015. [ 1 ]
The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals. In Albania, 32 species were recorded. Family: Vespertilionidae. Subfamily: Myotinae. Genus: Myotis. Alcathoe bat, M. alcathoe DD [3] Brandt's bat, M. brandti LC [4]
Elephant seals or sea elephants are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus Mirounga. Both species, the northern elephant seal ( M. angustirostris ) and the southern elephant seal ( M. leonina ), were hunted to the brink of extinction for lamp oil by the end of the 19th century, but their numbers have since recovered.
The dugong (/ ˈ d (j) uː ɡ ɒ ŋ /; Dugong dugon) is a marine mammal.It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees.It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century.
Marine mammal rehabilitation programs have been underway and regulated in the United States for more than 40 years. In 1973, injured and distressed manatees were rescued or aided in Florida. Eventually, the program was formalized into the Manatee Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Release Program managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and porpoises. Dolphins and porpoises may be considered whales from a formal, cladistic perspective.
The green sea turtle is another important species in the Mediterranean Sea and occasionally found in the Bay of Drin in the north and Bay of Vlorë in the south of Albania. [78] The hawksbill sea turtle is one of the world's most endangered sea turtles and basically found in tropical waters around the world but also occasionally in Albania. [79]