Marine Mammals of the World A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification

About this book

This new edition of Marine Mammals of the World describes and illustrates newly discovered and rarely photographed species, making it the most comprehensive and up-to-date identification guide available. This edition continues to meet the research-focused needs of marine biologists and conservation biologists by providing a tremendous influx of new photos, taking advantage of advances in digital and auto-focusing photography, and the emergence of marine mammal studies and "whalewatching" around the world. Marine Mammals of the World encompasses cetacean, pinniped, and sirenian species, as well as extinct species, and describes basic biology and taxonomic groupings of marine mammals.

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

1. Introduction
2. Basic Marine Mammal Biology
3. Taxonomic Groupings Above the Species Level
4. Cetacean Species Accounts
5. Pinniped Species Accounts
6. Sirenian and Other Species Accounts
7. Extinct Species Accounts
8. Dichotomous Identification Keys
9. Summaries of Characters for Similar Species
10. Glossary of Technical Terms
11. References and Sources for More Information
12. Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Thomas A. Jefferson, Ph.D. is a marine mammal biologist and director of Clymene Enterprises, in Lakeside, California. He has been studying marine mammals around the world since 1983, and has traveled widely in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia in pursuit of his work. His primary focus is on the population biology and taxonomy of small cetaceans, and their effective conservation.

Robert L. Pitman is a marine biologist at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California, and has published extensively on marine birds and mammals. Since 1976 he has averaged 6 months a year at sea on research vessels operating in all the world's oceans. His current research interests include ecology and systematics of killer whales in Antarctica and Australia.

Marc A. Webber has studied marine mammals in the wild and captivity since 1977. He has traveled to the Arctic, Antarctic, and many areas in between to study, photograph, and teach about marine mammals. He has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1992 and at present is the Deputy Manager at Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge which is based in Homer, Alaska.