Sea animal facts for kids
Every animal you can tap in the Kids Love the Sea 3D ocean, with simple true facts to read aloud. 102 animals across 3 seas, each shown in its real habitat.
🐠 Great Barrier Reef
The Great Eight, 40 animals & a pirate treasure hunt!
🐠 Clownfish
Clownfish live safely inside stinging sea anemones!
- Orange with white stripes
- Slimy coat stops the stings
- Stay close to home
🐢 Green Sea Turtle
Sea turtles can swim across a whole ocean!
- Moms lay eggs on beaches
- Their shell is part of their skeleton
- Some live over 80 years
🐟 Manta Ray
Manta rays have the biggest brain of any fish!
- They "fly" through the water
- As wide as a car is long
- No sting – totally gentle
🦈 Reef Shark
Reef sharks rest in sandy caves during the day!
- Black tips on their fins
- Hunt at night
- Keep the reef healthy
🐴 Seahorse
Seahorse dads carry the babies in a pouch!
- Its head looks like a horse
- Holds on to seaweed with its tail
- Each eye moves on its own
🐡 Pufferfish
Pufferfish blow up like a balloon when scared!
- Gulp water to puff up
- Some are covered in spikes
- Slow swimmers, so puffing keeps them safe
🐟 Parrotfish
Parrotfish poop makes white sandy beaches!
- Beak like a parrot
- They crunch coral into sand
- Sleep in a bubble of slime
🐍 Moray Eel
Moray eels have a second set of jaws in their throat!
- Hide in rocky holes
- Open and close their mouth to breathe
- Team up with groupers to hunt
🦁 Lionfish
Lionfish have spiky fins like a lion's mane!
- Spines can sting – look, don't touch!
- Red and white stripes
- Very hungry hunters
🐟 Blue Tang
Blue tangs change color from yellow to blue as they grow!
- Bright royal blue
- A sharp spine by the tail
- Graze on algae
🐌 Nudibranch
Nudibranchs are sea slugs with the brightest colors in the ocean!
- Over 3,000 kinds
- Colors warn they taste bad
- No shell at all
🐚 Giant Clam
Giant clams can live for over 100 years!
- Heavier than a grown-up
- Colorful lips with algae inside
- Stay in one spot their whole life
🐄 Dugong
Dugongs are called sea cows because they graze on seagrass!
- Related to elephants
- Eat up to 40 kg of seagrass a day
- Gentle and slow
🐬 Bottlenose Dolphin
Dolphins talk to each other with clicks and whistles!
- Super smart and playful
- Live in groups called pods
- Breathe air through a blowhole
🐋 Humpback Whale
Male humpbacks sing songs that can last 20 minutes!
- As long as a bus
- They leap right out of the water
- Eat tiny shrimp called krill
🐙 Giant Pacific Octopus
An octopus has 3 hearts and blue blood!
- Changes color in a blink
- Clever enough to open jars
- Each arm can taste things
🦈 Hammerhead Shark
A hammerhead's wide head helps it see almost all the way around!
- Eyes on each end of its head
- Can sense tiny electric signals
- Swim in big groups called schools
🐢 Leatherback Turtle
Leatherbacks are the biggest turtles in the world!
- Soft leathery shell, not hard
- Dive deeper than 1,000 m
- Eat mostly jellyfish
🥒 Sea Cucumber
A squishy vacuum cleaner that keeps the reef clean!
- Slurps up sand
- Soft and squishy
- No bones at all
🦑 Cuttlefish
It changes colour in a blink, like a magic light show!
- Changes colour fast
- W-shaped eyes
- Cousin of the octopus
🦈 Whale Shark
Whale sharks are as long as a bus but only eat tiny plankton!
- The biggest fish in the world
- Every whale shark has its own spots
- Its mouth is wider than you are tall
🐟 Maori Wrasse
Maori wrasse are giant, curious fish that swim right up to divers!
- Big blue lips
- A bumpy forehead hump
- Very friendly and nosy
🐟 Potato Cod
Potato cod are huge spotty groupers as heavy as a grown-up!
- Spots like potatoes
- Up to 100 kg
- Cleaner shrimp give them a wash
🦐 Cleaner Shrimp
Cleaner shrimp run a cleaning station for big fish!
- Clean inside fish mouths
- Eat the yucky bits
- Fish line up and wait their turn
🐟 Blue-spotted Stingray
Blue-spotted stingrays hide under sand and ledges during the day!
- Bright blue polka dots
- Bury themselves in sand
- Stinger on the tail: look, don't touch
🐟 Spotted Eagle Ray
Eagle rays fly through the water and can even leap into the air!
- Wings like a bird
- White spots on a dark back
- Dig for clams with their snout
🐠 Emperor Angelfish
Baby emperor angelfish look totally different from grown-ups!
- Blue and yellow stripes
- Babies have white rings
- Love caves and ledges
🦋 Butterflyfish
Butterflyfish have a fake eye spot to trick hunters!
- A pretend eye near the tail
- Swim in pairs
- Nibble on coral
🐟 Titan Triggerfish
Titan triggerfish guard their nests, so give them space!
- Super strong teeth
- Dig crater nests in the sand
- Grumpy when guarding eggs
🪨 Stonefish
Stonefish look just like rocks: the most venomous fish on Earth!
- A perfect rock disguise
- Never touch!
- Gulps food in a flash
🌈 Mandarin Fish
Mandarin fish are covered in swirly rainbow patterns!
- Like a living painting
- Come out at sunset
- Smaller than your finger
🐟 Barracuda
Barracudas are super-fast silver hunters!
- Zoom like a rocket
- A pointy toothy jaw
- Shiny silver scales
🐟 Humbug Damselfish
Humbug damselfish dive into staghorn coral when danger comes!
- Black and white stripes
- Live in coral branches
- Brave little guards
🎺 Trumpetfish
Trumpetfish hide by floating straight up and down!
- Shaped like a trumpet
- Hide among sea fans
- Sneak up on tiny fish
🐙 Blue-ringed Octopus
Blue-ringed octopuses are tiny but very dangerous: look, don't touch!
- Rings flash when scared
- Very venomous
- The size of a golf ball
🦐 Mantis Shrimp
Mantis shrimp have the fastest punch in the animal world!
- Punches like a bullet
- See more colours than us
- Rainbow coloured
⭐ Crown-of-thorns Starfish
Crown-of-thorns starfish eat coral, and too many can hurt the reef.
- Covered in sharp spines
- Eat coral
- Giant triton snails eat them
💃 Spanish Dancer
Spanish dancers swim by waving like a flamenco skirt!
- Twirls as it swims
- Bright red
- A big sea slug
🦈 Wobbegong Shark
Wobbegongs are carpet sharks with a frilly beard!
- Tassels around its mouth
- Looks like the sea floor
- Rests all day
🐢 Hawksbill Turtle
Hawksbill turtles have a beak like a bird and a beautiful shell!
- A pointy beak
- A patterned shell
- They eat sponges
🐍 Olive Sea Snake
Sea snakes breathe air, so they swim up to the surface for a big breath!
- Can hold their breath for 2 hours
- The reef has 14 kinds
- Paddle-shaped tail for swimming
🐢 Loggerhead Turtle
Loggerhead turtles have super strong jaws to crunch crabs and shells!
- Big head, strong bite
- Lay eggs on Queensland beaches
- Swim across whole oceans
🦈 Tiger Shark
Baby tiger sharks have stripes like a tiger that fade as they grow up!
- Stripes on young sharks
- Teeth like a saw
- Hunt mostly at night
🐚 Chambered Nautilus
A nautilus fills its shell with gas to float up and down, like a tiny submarine!
- Has about 90 tentacles
- Lived for 500 million years
- Rises at night to feed
🦈 Great White Shark
Great white sharks can smell food from far, far away!
- About 300 sharp teeth
- Super sniffing nose
- Visits the outer reef
🐧 Polar Seas
Swim left to Antarctica, right to the Arctic!
🐧 Emperor Penguin
Thousands of emperor penguins huddle together to stay warm in winter storms!
- They take turns standing in the warm middle
- Dads keep the egg warm on their feet
- Dive deeper than 500 m
🐣 Emperor Penguin Chick
Penguin chicks wear fluffy grey down like a cozy onesie!
- Chicks huddle in groups called creches
- Their down is not waterproof yet
- Mom and dad bring them fish
🐋 Orca Pack
Orcas hunt as a team, making waves together to wash seals off the ice!
- A pack is called a pod
- They plan their hunts
- The biggest kind of dolphin
🦭 Leopard Seal
Leopard seals hide by the ice edge and ambush penguins!
- Spotty like a leopard
- A huge smile full of teeth
- They sing underwater
🦭 Southern Elephant Seal
Elephant seals are the biggest seals in the world, with a nose like a trunk!
- As heavy as a car
- Dive down more than 1,500 m
- Molt their fur on the beach each year
🦭 Weddell Seal
Weddell seals live farther south than any other mammal!
- Saw breathing holes with their teeth
- Hold their breath for over an hour
- Pups are born on the sea ice
🦭 Ross Seal
Ross seals are so rare that very few people have ever seen one!
- Giant eyes for dark water
- Live deep in the thick pack ice
- Love to eat squid
🐟 Antarctic Icefish
Icefish have clear blood with no red in it at all!
- Special juice in their body stops them freezing
- Almost see-through
- Live in water colder than ice
🦐 Krill Swarm
A krill swarm can be so big you can see it from space!
- Food for whales, seals and penguins
- Some glow in the dark
- Eat algae under the ice
🐋 Blue Whale
The blue whale is the biggest animal that has ever lived!
- As long as 3 school buses
- Its heart is the size of a small car
- Eats 4 tons of krill a day
🐻❄️ Polar Bear
Polar bears are called sea bears because they swim for days!
- Black skin under white fur
- Hunt seals on the sea ice
- Moms dig snow caves for their cubs
🦊 Arctic Fox
Arctic foxes change coats: white in winter, brown in summer!
- Hear lemmings under the snow
- Follow polar bears for leftovers
- Wrap their fluffy tail like a scarf
🦭 Walrus
Walruses rest together on floating ice like islands!
- Tusks pull them onto the ice
- Big bushy mustache
- Find clams with their whiskers
🦭 Harp Seal Pup
Harp seal pups are born in a nursery on the ice with fluffy white fur!
- Grow super fast on mom's milk
- Molt into a grey coat after 3 weeks
- Thousands are born together
🦭 Harp Seal
Grown-up harp seals have a harp shape on their back!
- That is how they got their name
- Dive for fish
- Swim very long journeys
🦭 Ringed Seal
Ringed seals dig snow caves on the ice to hide their pups!
- Rings on their fur
- The smallest Arctic seal
- Scratch breathing holes with their claws
🦭 Bearded Seal
Bearded seals have long curly whiskers like a beard!
- Whiskers feel for food on the seafloor
- Males sing long trilling songs
- Rest on drifting ice
🦭 Hooded Seal
Hooded seals blow up a red balloon from their nose!
- They do it to show off
- Pups drink milk for only 4 days
- Dive deep for fish
🐋 Beluga Whale
Belugas are called sea canaries because they chirp and sing!
- Pure white skin
- Can make funny faces
- Swim in pods
🦄 Narwhal
The narwhal's horn is really a long tooth!
- The unicorn of the sea
- Swim under the sea ice
- The tusk can grow 3 m long
🦈 Greenland Shark
Greenland sharks can live for over 250 years!
- The slowest shark
- Live in icy deep water
- The oldest animal with a backbone
🦀 King Crab
King crabs can have legs nearly 2 meters wide!
- Long spiky legs
- Live in freezing water
- One of the biggest crabs
🦦 Sea Otter
Sea otters hold hands while they sleep so they don't float away!
- Use rocks as tools to crack shells
- The thickest fur of any animal
- Live in kelp forests
🐧 Adélie Penguin
Adélie penguins build their nests out of little stones!
- White ring around each eye
- Love eating krill
- Toboggan on their tummies
🐧 Gentoo Penguin
Gentoo penguins are the fastest swimming penguins in the world!
- Bright orange beak
- White patch above each eye
- Swim as fast as a racing bike
🐧 Chinstrap Penguin
Chinstrap penguins look like they are wearing a little helmet strap!
- Thin black line under the chin
- Climb steep rocky hills
- Eat krill every day
🦭 Crabeater Seal
Crabeater seals don't eat crabs at all! They eat tiny krill.
- Special teeth sieve out krill
- Rest on floating ice
- The most common seal in the world
🐋 Antarctic Minke Whale
Minke whales are small for a whale and very curious about boats!
- The smallest whale with baleen
- Gulp mouthfuls of krill
- Swim right up to the sea ice
🐟 Antarctic Toothfish
Toothfish have a special antifreeze in their blood so they don't freeze!
- Natural antifreeze inside
- The biggest fish in Antarctica
- Live deep in icy water
🕷️ Giant Sea Spider
Giant sea spiders breathe through their long legs!
- Breathe through their legs
- Grow huge in cold water
- Walk along the sea floor
🐋 Bowhead Whale
Bowhead whales can smash through ice with their huge heads to breathe!
- Can live over 200 years
- Spend their whole life in the Arctic
- Biggest mouth of any animal
🐟 Arctic Cod
Arctic cod hide in tiny cracks under the sea ice!
- Antifreeze in their blood
- Food for seals, whales and birds
- Swim in big groups
🪼 Lion's Mane Jellyfish
The lion's mane jellyfish has tentacles longer than a blue whale!
- Looks like a lion's mane
- Tentacles up to 30 m long
- Loves cold water
🦭 Spotted Seal
Spotted seals are covered in dark spots, like a speckly egg!
- Dark spots all over
- Pups are born on the ice
- Eat fish and shrimp
🦭 Leopard Seal
Leopard seals have spots like a leopard and are super-fast swimmers!
- Spotty like a leopard
- Hunt near the penguin colony
- Sing underwater songs
🦑 The Midnight Zone
Scary! Glowing hunters, giant squid and the dark deep floor
🦈 Great White Shark
Great whites can smell a tiny drop of blood from far away!
- Grow thousands of teeth in their life
- No bones – made of cartilage, like your nose!
- Sharks lived before dinosaurs
🐋 Sperm Whale
Sperm whales dive into the dark to battle giant squid!
- The biggest brain of any animal
- Sleep standing up in the water
- The loudest animal on Earth
🦑 Firefly Squid
Firefly squid are covered in tiny blue lights that twinkle like stars!
- Their glow is made by chemicals in their body
- Swim up at night to feed
- Only as long as your finger
🐟 Lanternfish
Lanternfish are covered in little glowing lights!
- Light spots along their bodies
- Swim up to the surface at night
- Some of the most common fish on Earth
🪓 Hatchetfish
Hatchetfish glow on their bellies to hide from hunters below!
- Shaped like a hatchet
- Huge eyes looking up
- Silver mirror-like sides
🪼 Glowing Jellyfish
Deep sea jellies flash rainbow lights to scare away hunters!
- Mostly made of water
- Some sting – look, don't touch!
- Around for millions of years
🦑 Vampire Squid
Vampire squids turn inside-out to hide like a cape!
- Red eyes and a dark cloak
- Glow with blue lights
- Not a real vampire – eats marine snow
🦐 Red Shrimp
Some deep sea shrimp squirt a cloud of glowing blue goo to escape!
- Red looks black in the deep, so they hide
- The glowing goo confuses hunters
- Live in the dark midnight zone
🐟 Anglerfish
The anglerfish dangles a glowing light to trap food: a death trap!
- The light tricks little fish
- Live in the pitch-black deep
- Big mouth, pointy teeth
🐍 Gulper Eel
Gulper eels have mouths bigger than their bodies!
- Mouth opens like a pelican pouch
- Glowing tip on their tail
- Live in the dark deep
🦑 Giant Squid
Giant squids have eyes as big as dinner plates!
- Biggest eyes of any animal
- Longer than a bus
- Live deep in the dark
🐙 Dumbo Octopus
Dumbo octopuses flap fins that look like elephant ears!
- Named after Dumbo the elephant
- Live deeper than any other octopus
- Hover just above the sea floor
🐟 Tripod Fish
Tripod fish stand on three long fins like stilts on the seafloor!
- Their fins can be a meter long
- Face into the current to catch food
- Almost blind – they feel for food
⭐ Basket Star
Basket stars have arms that branch again and again like a tangled basket!
- Their arms make a net to catch food
- Unfold at night
- Cling to deep sea corals
🐟 Blobfish
In the deep sea, blobfish look like normal fish!
- Look squishy out of water
- Live very deep down
- Float instead of swimming hard
🐋 Whale Fall
When a whale dies, it sinks to the seafloor and feeds deep sea animals for up to 50 years!
- Scavengers like isopods eat the meat
- Bacteria live on the bones
- A whole new home in the deep
🪲 Giant Isopod
Giant isopods are scavengers that feast on whale falls!
- Armored shell
- Can go years without eating
- Cousins of garden woodlice
🐟 Barreleye Fish
The barreleye fish has a see-through head, so you can see its eyes inside!
- Clear head like a jar
- Green eyes look upward
- Lives 600 m deep
🪼 Crown Jelly
When a crown jelly is scared, it flashes blue lights like an alarm!
- Shaped like a crown
- Flashes to call for help
- Red to hide in the dark
🐟 Viperfish
Viperfish have teeth so long they can't close their mouth!
- Huge fang teeth
- Glowing lights on its body
- Swims up at night to hunt
🦑 Strawberry Squid
The strawberry squid has one big eye and one small eye!
- Red with sparkly dots
- One big eye, one small eye
- Dots glow in the dark
🐟 Hadal Snailfish
Snailfish live deeper than any other fish, 8 km under the sea!
- Deepest fish ever filmed
- Soft, jelly-like body
- Eat tiny shrimp