Fregata minor almost never touches land and thus spends most of his/her life flying above oceans. The only time this bird touches land is for mating. The female chooses the male(s) while males display sounds and a red pouch on their chest filled with air and blood vessels. It is unclear why the females think another male is better suited/more attractive for reproduction. Scientists believe it is because of MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) where a group of genes are highly polymorphic (various copies of alleles). If a bird has a different variety of genes, then that bird will have a better immune system. Other interesting facts about the Fregata minor is that this bird is slow to mature, therefore having a very long lifespan and cares for a newborn for up to 18 months.
Marine debris are destroying the ocean. This includes plastic, cigarette buds and overall trash/waste. The fishing industry intentionally/accidentally dumps nets into the ocean and causes animals to have limited mobility, limited fitness, starvation, injuries, infection and suffocation. Sea turtles confuse plastic for jellyfish and ingest plastic. Birds eat trash and feed it to their young. Corals catch waste because of its 3D structure. Marine mammals are playful and curious, causing them to get accidentally entangled and die from starvation and/or suffocation. Beaches are getting filled up with trash. Please recycle, reuse and reduce.
Another interesting fact that I learned is that an obvious way to tell the difference between seals and sea lions is that seals have small holes for ears, while sea lions have actual ears. A manatee has a paddle-like tail while a dugong has a horizontal tail that is identical to whales or dolphins.
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