Supported Reading -

Marine Animals

WALT find information in written texts and make inferences

Marine Animals

Marine means “ocean”. If we are talking about “marine animals” we are talking about animals that live in or ______ our oceans.

Think about how many __________ types of animals must be “marine animals”!

New Zealand has a lot of different _________ animals, they are all _________ , and interesting. Today we will look at three of New Zealand’s most famous, and important marine animals.

The playful Hector’s Dolphin, the _________ New Zealand Sea Lion, and the adorable Yellow-Eyed Penguin, also called the Hoiho.

Hector’s Dolphin

Hector's ________ are one of the world’s smallest dolphins. Adult dolphins will only reach 1.5 metres in length. That’s only as big as some of you!

They are mostly ______ around the coast of New Zealand’s South Island.

Their bodies are grey with black and ______ markings.

The Hector's Dolphins have a round dorsal fin that looks like one of Mickey Mouse’s _____ . The dorsal fin sits on top of the body, and ______ them to swim.

New Zealand Sea Lion

New Zealand Sea Lions are one of the most rare sea lion species in the ______ and are only found in New Zealand.

There are only 12,000 of these _______ left in the world, so if we don’t look after them, there won’t be any left! That means they will have gone extinct.

These animals are _________ with big ones being over 3 _______ long, and weighing nearly 500 kilograms. Aren’t they _____ ? Just don’t get too close!

Hoiho / Yellow Eyed Penguin

The hoiho is another ________ that can only be found in New Zealand, which makes them very rare, so you would be very _____ to see a real one!

They are very ______ , even for penguins, only measuring 65cm in height, and about 6 kilograms in ______.

These animals are in _______ of going extinct too - fishing boats, animals, and changes to their homes mean they are at risk, so let’s think about how we can save them!