Click to listen to episode (4:18)
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 8-28-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of August 31, 2020.
SOUND – ~5 sec
This week, that sound of a Humpback Whale’s song opens an episode about water-related mammals. In scientific classification, or taxonomy, mammals are one class of vertebrates, that is, the animals with internal backbones. Other vertebrate classes are fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. While many mammals—including humans—live primarily on land, some other species are aquatic, meaning they actually live in water, while others are semi-aquatic, meaning they spend time both in water and on land. As of August 2020, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources’ Fish and Wildlife Information Service listed 149 mammal species and subspecies known to occur in the Commonwealth, including 30 marine mammal species.
To give you a chance to see what you know about various aquatic or semi-aquatic mammals that are found in Virginia or in ocean water off Virginia’s coast, here's a short quiz of five questions. After each question, I’ll play a ticking timer for about three seconds to give you time to think before I give the answer.
1. What semi-aquatic mammal with a long tail like a rudder can remain submerged for as long as 15 minutes? TIMER SOUND - ~3 seconds - That’s the muskrat.
2. What weasel-like, semi-aquatic mammal makes distinctive slides through mud or snow? TIMER SOUND - ~3 seconds - That’s the river otter.
3. What small semi-aquatic mammal, whose name rhymes with shoe, is found near fast-flowing rocky streams, feeds on aquatic insects and small fish, and is in turn eaten by larger fish such as trout and bass? TIMER SOUND - ~3 seconds – That’s the water shrew.
4. What long-eared semi-aquatic mammal swims well and is found only in marshes and swamps? TIMER SOUND - 3 seconds - That’s the marsh rabbit.
5. What aquatic mammal, listed on the federal endangered species list, is the largest living species of mammal? TIMER SOUND - 3 seconds – That’s the Blue Whale.
From gigantic whales to small shrews, aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals exhibit a wide range of sizes, shapes, adaptations to water, behaviors, and ecological functions.
Thanks to the National Park Service for the Humpback Whale sound. We close by letting three water-related mammals have the last calls. Here are about 15 seconds of sounds of a beaver tail splat, an otter at a wildlife center, and an underwater recording of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. Thanks to Freesound.org contributors for the otter and dolphin sounds.
SOUNDS - 15 sec
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Humpback Whale sounds were taken from a National Park Service recording (“Humpback Whales Song 2”) made available for public use on the “Community Audio” page of the Internet Archive Web site, at http://www.archive.org/details/HumpbackWhalesSongsSoundsVocalizations.
The otter sounds were recorded by user Motion_S (dated March 5, 2014) and made available for public use by Freesound.org, at online at https://freesound.org/people/Motion_S/sounds/221761/, under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. For more information on Creative Commons licenses, please see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/; information on the Attribution License specifically is online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
The Atlantic Spotted Dolphin sounds were recorded by user geraldfiebig (dated March 25, 2017) and made available for public use by Freesound.org, at online at https://freesound.org/people/geraldfiebig/sounds/385796/, under the Creative Commons Universal/Public Domain 1.0 License. For more information on Creative Commons licenses, please see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/; information on the Public Domain License specifically is online at https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.
IMAGES
Humpback Whale at Moss Landing in California; date not identified. Photo by Wade Tregaskis, made available for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 License (information about this Creative Commons License is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/). Image accessed from the Chesapeake Bay Program, “Discover the Chesapeake/Humpback Whale,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/humpback_whale, 8-31-20.
Marsh Rabbit, location and date not identified. Photo by Perry Everett/iNaturalist, made available for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (information about this Creative Commons License is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Image accessed from the Chesapeake Bay Program, “Discover the Chesapeake/Marsh Rabbit,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/marsh_rabbit, 8-31-20.
River Otter, location and date not identified. Photo by Tom Koerner/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, made available for use under Creative Commons Attibution 2.0 Generic License (CC BY 2.0; information about this Creative Commons License is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB). Image accessed from the Chesapeake Bay Program, “Discover the Chesapeake/River Otter,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/river_otter, 8-31-20.
SOURCES
Used for Audio
Biology Online, “Aquatic,” online at https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/aquatic.
Chesapeake Bay Program, “Mammals,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/mammals/all.
Aquatic mammals specifically are online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/mammals/aquatic.
Semi-aquatic mammals specifically are online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/mammals/semi-aquatic.
Encyclopedia Britannica, “Mammal,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/mammal/Classification; and “Vertebrate,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/vertebrate.
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web/Vertebrates,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Vertebrata/.
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “List of Native and Naturalized fauna of Virginia,” as of April 2018, online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf.
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/.
Mammals are online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/?Title=VaFWIS+Report+BOVA&lastMenu=Home.Species+Information&tn=.1&geoArea=&sppName=&geoType=None&geoVal=no+selection&sppTax=05&status.
Marine mammals are online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/?Title=VaFWIS+Report+BOVA&lastMenu=Home.Species+Information&tn=.1&geoArea=&sppName=&geoType=None&geoVal=no+selection&sppTax=12&status.
WorldAtlas, “Examples of Semi-aquatic Animals,” online at https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/examples-of-semiaquatic-animals.html.
For More Information about Mammals in Virginia and Elsewhere
Richard A. Blaylock, The Marine Mammals of Virginia, Virginia Sea Grant Publication VSG-85-05, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, 1985, online (as a PDF) at https://www.vims.edu/GreyLit/VIMS/EdSeries35.pdf.
iNaturalist, “Mammals of Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas,” online at https://www.inaturalist.org/guides/8061.
D.W. Linzey, The Mammals of Virginia, McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg, Va., 1998.
National Park Service, “Shenandoah National Park/Mammals,” online at https://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/nature/mammals.htm.
Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), “Chesapeake Bay Mammals,” online at https://www.vims.edu/test/dlm/critters/mammals/index.php.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the Mammals subject category. For episodes on other animals, see the following subject categories: Amphibians; Birds; Fish; Insects; Invertebrates Other Than Insects; and Reptiles.
Following are links to some other episodes on animals’ behavioral and physiological adaptations.
Animals’ ways of getting water – Episode 531, 6-29-20.
Sounds of animals – Episode 524, 5-11-20.
Temperature in animals – Episode 309, 3-28-16.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 – Virginia natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.
6.9 – public policy decisions related to the environment.
Grades K-6 Life Processes Theme
K.7 – basic needs and processes of plants and animals.
1.5 – animals’ basic needs and distinguishing characteristics.
3.4 – behavioral and physiological adaptations.
Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
2.5 – living things as part of a system, including habitats.
3.5 – food webs.
3.6 – ecosystems, communities, populations, shared resources.
4.5 – ecosystem interactions and human influences on ecosystems.
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Virginia watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring.
Life Science Course
LS.4 – organisms’ classification based on features.
LS.8 – community and population interactions, including food webs, niches, symbiotic relationships.
LS.9 – adaptations for particular ecosystems’ biotic and abiotic factors, including characteristics of land, marine, and freshwater environments.
LS.11 – relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.
Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.