A Swim through the Sea

1. A Swim through the Sea

2. Lets go for a swim through the beautiful sea…but look out for strange creatures that can surprise you and me!

3. What do you spy with his mouth open wide?

4. It’s a Whale Shark! Did you know that not all sharks bite! A whale shark is so gentle that divers can even catch a ride on its back! They are also the biggest fish in the sea! They can grow to be more than 41 feet long and weigh more than 47,000 lbs! A whale shark gets it’s name because it is as big as a whale!

5. What has eight legs and changes color? Here’s a hint: it’s NOT a spider!

6. It’s an Octopus! Did you know an octopus can tell you how it feels? An Octopus can show its mood by changing color! An octopus uses its eight arms for feeding, tasting and walking! It is very clever with an ability to learn and remember things! Did you also know that a large octopus can squeeze into a small peanut butter jar?

7. Hey! What can that be? It looks like it is hiding behind some seaweed!

8. It’s a Seahorse! Did you know a Seahorse does not have a stomach? Because is can’t store food, the seahorse needs to eat as many as 3,500 shrimp daily! The seahorse is also a very weak swimmer. To keep from being carried away by the current, it uses its tail to grasp sea plants and coral. A seahorse gets its name because its head is shaped like a horse’s!

9. What is that playing in the waves? Listen closely to hear what it is saying!

10. It’s a Dolphin! Did you know dolphins can live for 37 years! Dolphins are mammals; the give birth to live young and breath air! A dolphin lives in a group of family members called a pod. Did you know a dolphin talks through his blow hole!?

11. What is that floating in the water? (Just don’t eat it with peanut butter!)

12. It’s a jellyfish! Did you know that a jellyfish’s body is called an umbrella! (it’s long arms are called tentacles.) Some jellyfish have tentacles that are 100 feet long! Did you also know that jellyfish do not have brains!

13. What is that hiding in the rocks? All I can see is a whole bunch of dots.

14. It’s an eel! Did you know that eels are like dogs? Just like a dog, an eel has an excellent sense of smell and although eels are pretty aggressive, if handled correctly by divers, they have been known to become gentle and playful, just like your own family dog! An eel’s long shape helps it slip in and out of tight places like rocks and coral reefs. Did you know an electric eel is not a real eel.. It’s relative is the catfish!

15. What is that hatching out of an egg? It has two flippers but I can’t see its legs!

16. It’s a sea turtle! Did you know that the temperature of a turtle’s nest determines if it is a male or female? If a nest is too warm all the eggs that hatch will be female. If the nest is too cool then the hatchlings will be male! All sea turtles or omnivores which means they eat both plants like sea weed and they also eat meat like fish or sea urchins! Did you know that a sea turtle can live to be over 100 years old?

17. What is that with five arms? Lets move back! It might do us harm!

18. It’s a sea star! Did you know that some sea stars are never babies? When a sea star loses a leg, the sea star can grow another leg to replace it! More amazingly: the broken-off leg will grow four matching feet, a body and a brain! Did you also know that a sea star has over a thousand suction cups on it body and legs!

19. What is that jumping out of the water? Better be careful it might want to do battle!

20. It’s a swordfish! Did you know that a swordfish’s eyes and brain have their own special heater? A swordfish has a special organ that helps to heat the eyes and brain so the fish can see better and move better in cold water! Swordfish are very aggressive and have been know to attack the boats of the fishermen who try to catch them! A swordfish is also known as the gladiator fish because of it’s long sword-like bill!

21. What is that lurking beneath the water? It might be a dolphin but it looks bigger!

22. It’s a Great White Shark! Did you know sharks don’t have bones? Instead they have cartilage which is lighter and more flexible than bones. It allows them to float and swim better! You have cartilage too! It’s the flexible part at the end of your nose! Great white sharks have been known to jump over 6 ½ yards out of the ocean to catch their prey!

23. What is that hiding in the sea anemone? Quick! Tell him a joke: he might think it’s funny!

24. It’s a Clownfish! Best Friends? A clownfish's best friend is it’s home: the sea anemone! The clownfish hides its eggs in the sea anemone and helps to feed it. The sea anemone, in return, protects the clown fish by using its poisonous tentacles on the bigger fish who want to eat the clownfish! A clownfish gets its name by the bright colors and stripes it has on it’s body!

25. What is that creeping out of that shell? Let’s turn it over so we can tell!

26. It’s a Hermit Crab! How would you like to be someone’s mobile home? Many small sea creatures such as sea anemones and snails make their home on the shells of hermit crabs! They might get left behind because when the hermit crab grows to big for his shell, he leaves it to find a larger shell! Hey! That guy has ten legs just like me! Did you know a crab’s claws are also considered legs?

27. What are you looking at? What could it be? Better be careful: it Might squirt ink!

28. It’s a squid! That doesn’t look like a parrot! • Squid, like parrots, have large beaks that help crush their food! You can’t see it because it is hidden by its tentacles and arms. • Squid can range from a few centimeters long to over a hundred feet long! Did you know that the squid has the largest eyes in the animal kingdom!

29. What is that with wings open wide? It looks big enough to give us a ride!

30. It’s a manta ray! Have you ever wanted to fly like a bird?That’s how divers describe the Manta Ray’s graceful swimming! The manta ray’s graceful swimming can be attributed to it wing-like fins which can span more than 25 feet! Manta rays are know for their gentleness with divers who wish to swim with them! A manta ray is also know as a devil ray because of the horns coming off it’s head!

31. What’s that playing in the seaweed? It looks very cute and cuddly!

32. It’s a Sea Otter! Can you use your tummy as a table? Sea Otters use their stomachs as a table by placing all their food on it. When sea otters bring up clams, abalone or crabs from the sea bottom they also bring up a big piece of rock. They place the rock on their tummies then bang the food on the rock until the shell opens enough so they can eat what is inside. Talk about a soft table! The sea otter has the thickest fur of any mammal on earth! Did you know that baby sea otters are tied up with seaweed at night? Their mothers tie them up so they wont float away when they are sleeping!

33. What is that poking out of the water? It’s black and white and it looks like a killer!

34. It’s a killer whale! Wolves of the Sea! A killer whale, or orca, is one of the top predators of the sea. They eat fish, seals, squid, penguins, whales and they even eat sharks! Killer whales are top predators because they hunt in family groups called Pods. These pods are made up of family members and resemble hunting packs of wolves! That is why they are sometimes called Wolves of the Sea! Some killer whales have been known to live up to 90 years!

35. Do you see that creature coming towards us.. Don’t just stand there it might come after us!

36. It’s a manatee! Do you floss your teeth like a manatee? A manatee is the largest vegetarian in the ocean! It can eat up to 200 pounds of sea grass a day! If any of the grass gets stuck between their teeth, a manatee will floss with a boat's anchor line! Some manatee even try gargling with rocks! Some people think manatees are what sailors on pirate ships mistook for mermaids!

37. OH MY!WHAT’S THAT?IT’S HUMONGOUS!We have to be careful or it mightEAT us!

38. It’s a Blue whale! Did you know that the blue whale is the largest animal on earth? It can be over 110 feet long and weigh over 200,000 pounds! That’s twice the size of any dinosaur that walked the earth! But don’t worry: a blue whale only eats small shrimp called krill. A blue whale’s tongue weighs as much as an elephant!

39. Save the Whales! Did you know that humans have hunted blue whales for hundreds of years? It was only until recently that blue whales were put on the endangered species list . This list stops people from hunting the whales. There are many things YOU can do to help this endangered species. Click on the link below to find out how you can help! http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/8484/page2.html

40. Citations • Websites • http://www.e-tutor.com/html2/backIssues/issue0702/teachers.htm • http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/8484/page2.htmll • http://www.mikelevin.com/Random.htm • http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/soundfx/PDsoundfx/whales.shtml • http://www.shark-pictures.com/pictures/whale-shark.html • Books • A swim through the sea, Kristin Joy Pratt,Dawn Publications 1994 • Amazing Sea Creatures, Andrew Brown, Crabtree Publishing, 1997 • Surprising Sharks, Nicola Davies,Scholastics INC, 2003