World Animal Day

Under the carapace (shell) of this magical ocean-dwelling creature is a layer of green-coloured body fat, hence the name Green Turtle! The patterns on the shell change over time. Baby Green Sea Turtles have darker shells that turn to olive and then mottled green as they grow. They also grow to an average of 5ft long!

The largest animal ever to have lived on planet earth, the Blue Whale’s tongue alone weighs as much as an elephant! On average, a human heart beats 60-90 times per minute. A Blue Whale’s heart beats only 6 times per minute, is the size of a Mini car and beats so loudly it can be heard from 3km away through sonar equipment.

These penguins are the smallest in the world and they’re big talkers. They use 3 different types of calls to communicate. The “donkey-bray” is used when they’re calling for a mate. It starts with low huffs, followed by three high-pitched brays. The “courtship” bray is used when one needs a break from the nest and wants the other to take over. And the “haw” is a call for all occasions.

This beautiful creature is rare in so many ways. While the average butterfly flaps its wings 20 times per second, the Monarch makes do with 5-12 flaps. When Monarchs are caterpillars they feed on poisonous milkweed. The poison is stored in the body and causes predators to vomit if they eat one. Their brightly coloured wings act as a polite “warning sign”!

Hector’s dolphins are the smallest dolphin species and their lungs are the same size as ours! This means two things: 1, the Hector’s dolphin can’t dive for more than 3 minutes at a time, and 2, they can’t ever fall completely asleep because if they did, they would drown. The Hector’s dolphin also can’t whistle! Instead they communicate by emitting short, high-frequency clicks.