Life
in the oceans

This animal is very attached to its territory, and is mainly nocturnal. It spends the day in a hole. It can live for almost 50 years! Every summer, lobsters migrate to breed. 

Although often confused with the seagull, they are two completely different birds.

Depending on what food is available, it can be both omnivorous and carnivorous. Thanks to its adaptability, its population increased dramatically in the 20th century. This sometimes negatively impacts the environment, so local population control measures may be taken, like egg sterilisation.

This species consists of flatfish with both eyes on the same side, the right, the left side being blind and unpigmented because it faces the ground. The Atlantic halibut is more commonly known as white halibut. It lives at depths of over 150 m, but can descend to over 500 m in winter, coming higher again in summer.  

This fish lives in coastal coral reefs.

Its dorsal fin extends into a very long filament. This fish is typically found in coral reefs of the Indian Ocean.

In Polynesia, it is revered, and released when caught. 

Exocet (like the missile) is the French name for this fish. Its highly-developed fins enable it to leap high out of the water to escape predators like tuna.
It grows to around 20 cm and feeds on plankton and crustaceans.
Flying fish sometimes land on the Vendée Globe boats!

Also known as the green turtle, it is widespread in the south-western Indian Ocean, so skippers often come across them. The green turtle’s name is due to the colour of its flesh, not its shell, as it is a herbivore. 

The sperm whale is found all over the world, but is now more common in the northern hemisphere because of global warming. Females and young sperm whales stay in warm waters. Meanwhile, males may travel up to the polar Arctic seas or down to Antarctica. 

It mainly feeds on giant squid. 
The oil extracted from sperm whale blubber has long been used to make candles and cosmetics, which has contributed to the decline of the species.

A generic name for small cold-water crustaceans, krill form the basis of numerous food chains in ocean ecosystems.

Feeding on algae that form under pack ice, their numbers have plummeted in recent years as a result of global warming. 

Also known as the great albatross, it is the largest and heaviest member of the albatross family, with a wingspan of around 3.5 m. It spends almost 95% of its life in flight. It has developed a "dynamic gliding" technique: to avoid exhaustion, it hardly ever flaps its wings.

The Quinnat is the largest American salmon, much sought-after by sporting fishermen. It can reach 1.5 metres in length and weigh 60 kilos. It swims up rivers to breed. Overfishing and the construction of large dams have caused the species to disappear from many parts of America. Attempts to reintroduce it are regularly made. 

A member of the octopod family, it has four pairs of arms, each around 3 m long and covered with around 200 suckers. Reddish in colour, it can camouflage itself thanks to the pigments in its skin. When it feels threatened, it releases a cloud of ink that hides it from its attacker. 

This can grow up to 30 metres long and weigh up to 200 metric tons!

Its mouth is equipped with baleen plates, and it feeds mainly on krill and small shoals of fish. Whaling almost caused its extinction. This practice has been banned since 1986. Vendée Globe skippers sometimes come across them, and must take care not to hit one!

Do you know ? 

The blue whale is an endangered species.