Secret always attracted and attracts a person. The depths of the oceans have long been considered the mysterious kingdom of Leviathan and Neptune. Tales of snakes and squids the size of a ship made the most seasoned sailors shuffle. Unusual and interesting inhabitants of the sea will be considered by us in this article.
We will talk about dangerous and amazing fish, as well as about such giants as sharks and whales. Read on, and the mysterious world of deep-sea inhabitants will become more clear to you.
Marine life
The water surface takes up a much larger area than land. In the depths of the oceans lies more than one thousand puzzles that attract scientists and extreme people. Today, only part of the animals inhabiting the water column is known.
In this article we will try to briefly touch on the most interesting facts about marine life. You will find out why the deep sea monster has a fishing rod with a flashlight on its forehead. Get acquainted with the variety of sharks and understand that only a few species pose a real danger to humans.
We will also consider some deep-sea fish. Photos of these unusual animals resemble the fauna of fantastic worlds from Hollywood movies. Nevertheless, they are real inhabitants of the ocean on planet Earth.
So, our tour begins with a review of the deadly species of fish that live in the seas and oceans.
Dangerous inhabitants of the sea
In this article, we are talking about a variety of marine animals. Before touching large individuals, such as dolphins, sharks and whales, we will consider the dangerous inhabitants of the sea.
The main cause of death for hapless divers is poisoning, not a shark attack, as it might seem.
The most deadly can be called several species of fish. These are stone fish, puffer, zebra fish (or lion fish), stingray, moray eel and barracuda. The first three are very poisonous. The liquid contained on their spikes causes a neuroparalytic effect. A ramp can kill with one blow with a bone sword on its tail or with electric shock, if you step on an electric representative of the species. Moray eel and barracuda are less dangerous, but may confuse the diver's leg or arm with a fish and cause a laceration. Without proper help, a person usually does not survive.
Also, a special danger lies in the crevices of stones at the bottom and in clusters of algae. Not only the above-mentioned fish are found here, but also scorpions, lionfish, warts and puffers. These animals are harmless and will not be the first to attack. But accidental provocation is possible due to a careless touch. The fact is that they are very well camouflaged and difficult to distinguish from the surrounding landscape. In view of this, divers are advised to swim in pairs or groups, rather than alone. In case of a sudden injection and deterioration of health, you should immediately rise to the surface and consult a doctor.
During the article you will see a photo of the inhabitants of the sea. These will be giants and dwarfs, unusual anglers and fish in the form of aspic.
Shark species
The most dangerous inhabitants of the seas are sharks. Today, scientists have more than four hundred and fifty species. You will be surprised, but there are very small representatives of these predators. For example, near the coast of Colombia and Venezuela lives a deep-sea shark Etmopterus perryi, whose length is about twenty centimeters.
The largest species is the whale shark, which can reach twenty meters in length. Unlike the extinct megalodon, she is not a predator. Its diet includes squid, small fish, plankton.
It is noteworthy that sharks do not have a swimming bladder characteristic of fish. Various species have developed their own way out of this situation. For example, sand sharks gain air into the stomach and create a semblance of a non-existent organ. Most use the liver instead of the bladder. Squalene bicarbonate accumulates there, which is quite light.
In addition, sharks have very light bones and cartilage. Due to this, neutral buoyancy is created. The rest is created by constant movement. Therefore, most species sleep very little.
It is often asked which sharks in the Black Sea can attack humans. The answer is clear. Only two species are found in this pond - katran (spotted prickly shark) and scyllium (feline). Both varieties are completely safe.
They can be met face to face only by divers, but even then the only threat will arise when trying to catch the katran with their hands. He has poisonous spikes on his skin. They will not attack, since a person is larger than them. The length of these species varies about a meter.
In what seas are sharks found?
This information does not interfere with those who are going on a trip. Tourists are often interested in the question, in which seas are sharks. Typically, such excitement is caused by concern for their safety. In fact, a shark attack on a person is a rare event.
Statistics say that only a few species of sharks attack humans. And then the reason is often because the fish did not figure out who is in front of it. In fact, human meat does not belong to the selected products of this predator. Studies say that by biting it off, the shark usually spits out back, because it does not belong to the high-fat food that it needs.
So how many seas can be a haven for dangerous predators? This is the majority of coasts directly related to the waters of the oceans. For example, the Red Sea, the seas of the Far East and others.
Only four species of sharks are considered the most dangerous - long-winged, tiger, blunt and white. The last two are the most deadly. The white shark is one of the most powerful predators. She can feel a drop of blood at a distance of five kilometers and quietly sneak up on the victim. All this is due to the specific color, which makes it invisible from the surface.
According to unofficial statistics, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique are considered the most dangerous countries in terms of shark attacks. According to official data, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, the USA and South Africa are such.
In the Mediterranean, the most dangerous species are the long-winged and tiger sharks. These same fish can swim from the ocean to the Red Sea. The northern seas, as well as the Black and Azov, are completely safe in terms of attacks on humans by sharks.
Whale species
The most enormous inhabitants of the sea are whales. Today, despite their impressive size and fairly large populations of certain species, animals are poorly understood. Every year, unexpected discoveries of new units or specific habits occur.
At the moment, scientists know about eighty species of whales. Readers will undoubtedly be interested to know that the hippo is the closest relative of this mammal. In addition, whales originally lived on land and were artiodactyls. Researchers say that the ancestor of these giants descended into the water about fifty million years ago.
Biologists distinguish three orders of cetaceans - toothed, baleen and now extinct ancient whales. The first includes all species of dolphin, sperm whales and porpoises. They are carnivores. They feed on cephalopods, fish and marine mammals, such as seals and seals.
Whiskered cetaceans, unlike the first, have no teeth. Instead, they have plates in their mouth, better known as the whalebone. Through this design, the mammal draws in water with small fish or plankton. The food is filtered out, and the liquid is ejected through a special hole in the form of the famous fountain.
These are huge animals. The largest of the baleen is the blue whale. Its mass reaches one hundred and sixty tons, and its length is thirty-five meters. In total, researchers have ten species. These are blue, gray, dwarf, humpback, southern and bowhead whales, saivail, finwale and two subspecies of minke whales.
As you can see, the sea and its inhabitants keep many interesting secrets. Let's see where these giants live.
In what seas are whales found?
Sailors say that a whale at sea is like an elephant in a china shop. These giants tend to plow the depths of the world's oceans. Only occasionally do they appear in inland seas, is more likely to enter the marginal and inter-island.
The family of minke whales, for example, the humpback whale, blue, finwale, minke whale and seyval, prefer to stay in the seas of northern latitudes. The reason for this behavior is that in more southern waters different parasites and clings cling to them.
For example, whale lice can cause ulcerative abscesses on the body of these giants.
Among the minke whales, the above-mentioned individuals are the most frequent inhabitants of the seas.
The names of the reservoirs into which they swim are as follows: the White, Barents, Greenland, Norwegian and Baffin seas in the Atlantic and Chukchi - in the Pacific Ocean.
The blue whale is today known in four varieties. Its northern and southern species live in the cold seas of the corresponding hemispheres, while the dwarf and Indian species tend to live in tropical latitudes. Due to the special interest of whaling, this animal was almost exterminated by the middle of the twentieth century. In 1982, a moratorium was introduced. Today, about ten thousand individuals in the world are known.
Thus, whales, like dolphins, the photo of which will be presented later, live in almost all parts of the world's oceans and in the marginal seas. They do not swim into inland waters like the Mediterranean and Red Seas due to insufficient depth and lack of necessary food.
Dolphin species
Undoubtedly, the most popular and human-friendly marine inhabitants are dolphins. A photo of these mammals will be presented later.
To date, about forty varieties are known. Eleven of them live in water bodies of the Russian Federation.
If we divide these marine inhabitants by genera, we get a rather interesting picture. Variegated, gray, black, as well as Malaysian, Irvadic, humpback and large-toothed dolphins are found. There are humpbacked, long-billed, beakless, short-headed and proto-dolphins. Killer whales, small and dwarf killer whales and bottlenose dolphins are also included here.
In particular, it is the latter kind that is the most popular in literature and cinema. With a high degree of probability, the inhabitants at the word "dolphin" will recall a representative of this species.
But not all dolphins are inhabitants of the sea. There are four river species. They are distinguished by poor eyesight and weak sonar. Therefore, these mammals are on the verge of extinction.
For example, the Amazonian river dolphin is pink in color and is considered sacred in the Indian tribes. These amazing creatures also live in the Ganges, Chinese rivers and La Plata.
If we talk about the external signs of this animal, we can mention the following. They can reach two meters in length, pectoral fins - about sixty, and dorsal - up to eighty centimeters long.
The number of teeth in dolphins is not constant. It varies from one hundred to two hundred. It is noteworthy that there are quite large flocks of these mammals, up to several thousand heads.
Some amazing facts about dolphins. Their brain is three hundred grams heavier than a human. It also has twice as many convolutions. They have the ability to sympathize, and their "dictionary" has up to fourteen thousand different sounds. Signals are sonar (for orientation) and communicative.
Man uses these mammals both for peaceful (pet-therapy) and for military (mine detection, kamikaze for submarines) purposes.
What kind of seas are dolphins
How many seas on the planet, so many habitats of different species of dolphins. But their range is not limited only to such reservoirs. They live in rivers and in the open ocean.
Dolphin species vary with sea temperature. For example, in the colder northern latitudes live the so-called "northern" representatives. These include belugas and narwhals, or sea unicorns.
The first live in places where there is no constant ice crust. They are not able to break through the thickness of frozen water. In cold winters, belugas migrate southward to the Baltic or Sea of Japan. It is noteworthy that this species can not be without breathing for more than fifteen minutes, so they do not plunge deeply. Also, belugas do not jump into the air, like the southern brethren. The breathing hole manages to become crusted with ice even in the second that they inhale.
Narwhals are more adapted to northern conditions. The tusk, for which they were called unicorns, is a hypertrophied version of the tooth. Usually males have it, most often on the left side, although they are also found with two tusks.
Narwhals break through the horn of wormwood so that unarmed females and cubs can breathe. Therefore, they constantly keep to the herds.
However, southern varieties are more popular. The photo of these mammals adorns many logos and is replicated in various industries. Representatives of warm seas dolphins act in films, tourists admire them. Also, these animals are used for therapy.
They can be found in any sea from temperate latitudes to the equator. But the most famous is the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. They reach four meters in length, consume about fifteen kilograms of fish per day. Easy to train, non-aggressive, on the contrary, very friendly.
The main difference between oceanic dolphins and sea dolphins is in the depth of diving and the ability to do without oxygen longer.
The magical world of the Black Sea
Now we will touch upon the fauna of one of the most interesting seas of our planet. This is the Black Sea. It has a maximum length of 1150 kilometers from east to west, and 580 kilometers from north to south. The specificity of the reservoir is that not a single living organism, except anaerobic bacteria, is found deeper than two hundred meters. The fact is that further down to the bottom, the water is very saturated with hydrogen sulfide.
Therefore, the fish living in the Black Sea choose the upper layers or shelf where bottom species are concentrated. These include gobies, flounders and others.
Biologists say that in this reservoir there are four times less different types of living creatures than in the Mediterranean Sea. Of these, only one hundred and sixty types of fish. The poverty of the fauna is explained not only by the high content of hydrogen sulfide, but also by the low salinity of the water.
Sea dragon, sea cat and scorpions are the most dangerous fish that live in the Black Sea. On their skin and tail are poisonous growths, thorns and spikes. In this pond there are only two species of sharks that do not pose the slightest threat to humans. This is a sea dog (katran) and a cat shark, which, like a swordfish, sometimes penetrates the Bosphorus.
Salmon, trout, hamsa, herring, sturgeon and other fish species are also found in the Black Sea.
The most interesting deep-sea fish
Next, we will study the most unusual inhabitants of the sea. They are different in color, structure, search method of prey and protective mechanisms. You will be surprised at how unlimited imagination nature has.
The championship, undoubtedly, is occupied by the deep-sea line. This is a predator living at a depth of one and a half to three kilometers. It is noteworthy that males are parasites on the body of the female. They have a size of about five centimeters, with a female size of up to sixty-five centimeters and a weight of about twenty kilograms.
The main feature of this fish is a special outgrowth on the forehead with iron at the end. Outwardly, it resembles a fishing rod, for which the monkfish is also called anglerfish. Bacteria in the gland can emit light, into which fish congregate, which serve as food for this predator.
The second unusual marine inhabitant is sackcloth. This is a fish up to thirty centimeters in size. But he can swallow the victim four times as much as himself and up to ten times heavier. This ability is achieved due to the absence of ribs and the presence of a large elastic stomach.
Like the previous representative of marine inhabitants, the bolsherot can swallow the victim more than he himself. The specificity of this fish is that its head with a huge mouth makes up one third of its body, the rest resembles an eel.
There are also completely extraordinary deep-sea fish. You can see the photo of the drop fish below. This is an incomprehensible animal in the form of jelly. Despite the fact that its meat is not edible and it is found only near Australia, this species is on the verge of extinction. Fishermen catch it for souvenirs.
Thus, in this article, dear readers, we met with the terrible and dangerous inhabitants of the seas. Learned about different types of whales, sharks and dolphins. We also talked about the latitudes in which it is likely to meet them and how deadly some individuals can be.