The Marine Mammal Middle's hospital and customer heart in Sausalito, California, has reopened to the public! E book your go to today! Tickets are free however have to be reserved online prematurely. The phrase "pinniped" means fin- or flipper-footed and refers back to the marine mammals that have entrance and rear flippers. Hundreds of thousands of years in the past, the ancestors of pinnipeds lived on land. These were most likely weasel- or bear-like bts with teddy bear animals that spent an increasing number of time within the ocean and eventually tailored to this marine atmosphere. Pinnipeds are separated into three groups: earless seals, eared seals and walruses. This group contains seals, sea lions and walruses -- animals that stay in the ocean but are in a position to come back on land for long periods of time. Generally known as earless seals or true seals, marine mammals in the phocid family might be easily recognized by looking at their ears and flippers. They even have small entrance flippers and transfer on land by flopping along on their bellies, a motion referred to as "galumphing." At sea, true seals transfer their rear flippers back and forth like a fish tail to propel themselves through the water. They've ear holes but no exterior ear flaps. You'll be able to recognize these animals by their flippers and ears. Sea lions and fur seals are a part of the otariid household and are sometimes referred to as eared seals. In contrast to true seals, otariids have exterior ear flaps. Their entrance flippers are massive, and on land they're able to convey all 4 flippers underneath their bodies and walk on them. In the water, they swim using their front flippers like oars. They've longer flippers than sea lions, along with a luxuriant coat of fur that was so prized by hunters that it brought them to the brink of extinction in the 19th century. Walruses are in a family of their own known as the odobenids. Fur seals, in spite of getting the word “seal” in their name, are literally closely related to sea lions. They have air sacs in their neck that may inflate to permit them to float as if they're carrying life preservers. Walruses are one in every of the most important pinnipeds, with males reaching over 3,000 pounds. They dwell within the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans, within the arctic area. Each males and females have tusks and vacuum-like mouths for sucking up shellfish from the ocean flooring. Canadian legal guidelines, but restricted searching by the Inuit individuals is allowed. Walruses are protected below U.S. The Marine Mammal Heart cares about your privateness. Read our privacy policy.