| Shortfin mako |
Whale shark |
Capable of attaining speeds of up to 35km/hr the shortfin mako
is believed to be the fastest swimming of all sharks. |
The whale shark
is the world's largest living fish, with adults reaching over 12m in length. |
| Giant clam |
Blue whale |
An enormous shellfish, the giant clam
is the largest bivalve mollusc in the fossil record, and the heaviest of all living molluscs. |
The largest animal to have ever lived, the blue whale
is even larger than the biggest dinosaurs. |
| Kemp's ridley turtle |
Wandering albatross |
Classified as Critically Endangered, the Kemp's ridley turtle
is the most threatened marine turtle in the world. |
The impressive wandering albatross
has the longest recorded wingspan of any bird, reaching up to a massive 3.5m across. |
| Horseshoe crab |
Coelacanth |
During the spring and summer, adult horseshoe crabs
migrate in huge numbers towards sandy beaches and congregate in the shallow water to breed. |
Dubbed a "living fossil", the coelacanth
was previously believed to have gone extinct at the time of the dinosaurs until its noted rediscovery in 1938. |
| Sea otter |
Southern rockhopper penguin |
Relying on their fur to keep them warm in the water, sea otter
fur is the densest of any mammal, consisting of around 100,000 hairs per cm2. |
Once a stronghold for the southern rockhopper penguin,
the population in the Falkland Islands has declined by a staggering 90% in the last 60 years. |
| Lace coral |
Southern elephant seal |
Lace corals
are remarkable for their bright colours. The colour is deposited within the limestone skeleton and remains after the animal tissue is gone. |
The biggest seal in its family, a male southern elephant seal
can weigh up to ten times as much as a female, making them the most sexually dimorphic of all mammals. |
