Extra-Large Wildlife

Blue whales reach lengths of 110 feet (with females being bigger than males), making them the largest animals to ever live! They are also one of the loudest animals on Earth, songs can reach nearly 200 dB (louder than a jet engine!) and travel for hundreds of miles across the ocean.

For another animal with impressive length, here is a video of a 49 foot long python, being held in captivity in Indonesia. Over the centuries there have been many tales of giant snakes. This 983 pounder tells us the tales were mostly true. In recent years, pythons have become an extra-large threat to the Florida Everglades ecosystem, where pet owners have released the non-native species into the wild.

Similar tales of exotic wild creatures at sea may have been spawned by such as this 2,000 pound, nine foot long loggerhead turtle that, sadly, only came to view because it snagged in buoy cable. NWF and colleague organizations took many needed steps during the 2010 BP Gulf oil disaster to protect loggerheads and other turtle species.

We all know that giraffes are our tallest land animal and that some have reached heights in excess of 20 feet, but the world’s tallest subspecies of giraffe, the Rothschild, is now in danger of extinction.

Scientists exploring Madagascar reported the discovery of what is thought to be the world's smallest chameleon, Brookesia micra, a leaf chameleon. Photo by Glaw, F., et al., PLoS ONE

Extra-Small Wildlife

By contrast, the smallest of reptile was recently discovered in Madagascar: Brookesia micra. It is a tiny leaf chameleon that measures an inch when fully grown.  Recent efforts to inventory wild species in tropical forests are finding hundreds of previously undocumented species, including this little guy who lives in leaf litter and only comes out at night.

Speedy Birds

There are many record-breaking speedsters in the animal kingdom. The Peregrine falcon gets the nod for being able to dive at speeds close to 150 mph, but Siberia’s spine-tailed swift wins the overall prize for flying across the sky at 106 mph.

And while cheetahs are the fastest land animal, able to run at 70 mph, the ostrich is the fastest land bird, having been clocked at about 45 mph.

My favorite speedster may be the Gentoo penguin which can swim at about 25 mph through Antarctic seas. These penguins need their speed and smart maneuvering to keep from becoming food the large predators such as orcas. This two minute video, called Happy Gentoo, shows how this all works for a worn out but clever penguin being chased by a pod of orcas. It has a surprise ending you may like. By breaking a record, the little guy avoids becoming a statistic.

Big Leapers

The highest land-based leaper seems to be the cougar, which can jump straight up over 20 feet. The highest ocean leaper seems be a toss-up between orcas and sharks which can get themselves some 20 feet above the waves.

Southern cricket frogs are one of the best jumpers in the amphibian world, reaching heights of over 60 times their body length (that’s like a person jumping up a 38 story building!).

Eastern Hercules Beetle

Longest Commutes

The arctic tern seems to win in the “longest commute” category with its annual 21,000 mile round trip from pole to pole and the North American caribou does a 5,000 mile round trip on land.

Hercules! Hercules!

Last but not least, rhinoceros beetles–sometimes called Hercules beetles because they possess strength of a herculean proportions–can lift objects 850 times their weight. That would be equivalent to a human lifting 9 fully grown male elephants!

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The Fastest Swimmers

The sailfish is considered the fastest swimmer among fish, often reaching 70 mph. Although a black marlin was recently clocked at 80 mph so the sailfish record may fall to its cousin.

The fastest swimming mammal is the orca (often called killer whale) which can swim over 55 mph but the Dall’s porpoise of the north Pacific has been clocked at the same speed.

We all know that birds can fly fast.  In flight, the fastest bird is the spine-tailed swift of Siberia which can reach speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, but the fastest bird in the water is the Gentoo penguin, which swims at about 22 mph. (Watch this video of a Gentoo swimming madly to avoid a pod of hungry orcas.)

The Gentoo’s speed is about the same as the fastest sea turtle, the leatherback.

Using a different mode of movement, squid can achieve 25 mph through a form of jet propulsion.

The Deepest Swimmers

Scientists once thought that the deepest parts of the ocean were too dark and cold to sustain life.  But they have been discovering that the deep ocean holds a rich ecosystem of many living forms.

For example, they have recently found a type of snailfish that lives happily nearly five miles down where the water pressure is almost unimaginable. (Watch this video of these true denizens of the deep.)

People are also often amazed to learn that whales once lived on land and liked swimming so much that they went back to living in the sea.  These sea-going mammals can dive down to some of the deepest parts of the ocean.  The sperm whale routinely dives to depths of 10,000 feet (about two miles) to hunt for giant squid.

Slowest Swimmer

Scientists believe that the sea horse is the slowest fish in the ocean.  It moves along at about 0.01 (one hundredth) mph.  (Watch this video shows how the sea horse swims.)

Largest Swimmers:

The whale shark is the largest fish in the sea.  One was measured at 41 feet in length and weighed over 35 tons. This (Watch this video of divers swimming near a whale shark.) However, the blue whale (a mammal) is the largest living creature.  Adult blue whales can reach 100 feet in length and 200 tons in weight.

The largest giant squid ever recorded was captured in the North Atlantic in 1878. It weighed 4 tons and its tentacles measured 10 m (35 ft) long.

The heaviest crustacean ever found swimming along the bottom was a lobster weighing 42 lbs, caught in 1934.

Secret Swimmers

Some animals have reputations for not being able to swim or being afraid of the water.  Take cats, for example.  The truth is cats can swim. Some cats, such as the jaguar of South and Central America are excellent swimmers.  Tigers are good swimmers too as it turns out.

With primates, most indications are that gorillas do not swim but that chimpanzees are swimmers, if reluctantly.

Other animals that are identified as not being able to swim range from camels to armadillos (although the long-nosed armadillo of South America is an armadillo species that can swim).

Unconventional Swimmers

Some fish swim vertically.  The sea horse is one example but there are many others in the fish world including the razor fish or shrimp fish, that swim a vertical position.

Many fish can swim backwards.  Eels are best known for this.

Anadromous species, such as salmon and shad, live in the ocean and travel up rivers to spawn.  These fish know to return to the same place from which they hatched.

Just Plain Different

Once in a while, something unexpected will happen.  Forget about the Loch Ness monster.  One time, in 2007, a deer was sighted miles from the shore in the Chesapeake Bay.  The fisherman who saw the deer took her on board his boat and released her safely on shore.

Another animal that is simply fascinating to watch in the water is the elephant.  (This video shows elephants swimming in deep water from an underwater perspective.)

Polar bears are also champion swimmers.  Recently, however, a lack of ice in the Arctic Ocean forced a particular polar bear to have to swim 426 miles over nine straight days to reach an ice flow.  The bear lost 100 pounds and a cub, and reminds us, during National Wildlife Week, of how important it is to protect natural environments worldwide – especially those of champion swimmers.