Top 13 Cutest Sea Creatures in the World
Here are the Top 13 Cutest Sea Creatures on the Planet! On land we spend the better part of our lives gushing over cute critters covered in fluff— trading memes and sanity for inspiration through tiny pets in hats. The ocean, too, has its fair share of doe-eyed dwellers that are cute enough to faun over.
1. Chinstrap penguin
Found among the islands and icebergs surrounding Antarctica. Commonly known names for this breed are ringed penguin, bearded penguin, and Stonecracker— due to the piercing nature of its call.
2. Bigeye thresher shark
Their large eyes are adapted for hunting in low light conditions, and nearly half of its total length stems from its elongated upper lobe of the tail fin.
Feeding mainly off fish and squid, prey of the Thresher are stunned using whipping strikes from the long tail.
3. Boxfish
Remarkably cute and even more so when young, their appearances change with maturity, yet their round eyes and pouty lips remain the same.
The boxfish bounce around shallow waters of about three feet deep, and are seen among tropical reefs as well as the Pacific, Indian and eastern-Atlantic oceans.
4. Pufferfish
The pufferfish is a popular underwater find, as the inflated, big-eyed ball with a seemingly smiling face is enough to captivate any diver of the deep. Their internal organs contain a venom known as tetrodotoxin— a liquid killer up to 1,200 times more fatal than cyanide.
To add insult to injury, a surface of needle-sharp spikes cover the outer body of the pufferfish, and if this weren’t enough to warn off prey, its ability to inflate to almost double its size keeps the predatory list at an all-time low.
5. Costasiella Kuroshimae Nudibranch
Nestled in shallower waters of the Great Barrier Reef, its body and face resemble a wooly cartoon sheep, earning this critter the nickname “Shaun the Sheep.”
The sea sheep’s body is beautifully adorned with color, thanks to the algae it feeds off in order to produce chloroplasts for photosynthesis. This shell-less sacoglossan sea slug is a marine mollusk growing up to the length of one centimeter only.
6. Green sea turtle
Newly hatched baby sea turtles are astonishingly loveable, only problem, approximately one out of 1000 hatchlings make it to adulthood, if they manage to survive the dangerous journey of nest to sea.
7. Beluga Whale
Belugas are highly sociable animals that always appear to be smiling; they live in underwater pods, communicating through a diversified language of water whistles and clicks.
Belugas can be found in the icy waters of the Arctic and Subarctic in packs, as mother Belugas tend to their babies for at least two years.
8. Axolotl
Exclusive only to the lake complex of Xochimilco near Mexico City, this curious creature known as the Axolotl is facing near extinction.
Consistent lake draining to curb flooding as well as threats from invasive species, determine that the neotenic salamander will soon be a creature of the past.
Related to the tiger salamander, the nickname given the Axolotl is actually “walking fish,” despite its amphibious nature.
9. Bottlenose dolphin
Nicknames include the puppies of the sea and it’s easy to see why: smiling faces and a cheeky curiosity give these mammals a playful personality that’s hard not to love.
Part of their popularity is the sociable ability and brain capacity, for Bottlenose dolphins are a feature favorite for animal lovers— trained to perform tricks in aquariums and marine amusement parks all over the world.
10. Sea Otter
Balancing shells and snacks on their bellies to eat, the sea otter is native to the North Pacific Ocean.
While efforts to preserve these cute creatures of the Pacific are helping the numbers climb, the species is still considered endangered.
11. Pygmy seahorse
As the pygmy seahorse prefer gorgonian to call their home— an order of soft, colorful coral, they can also transform to the hue of this sea fan accordingly.
Usually though, the colors are limited to soft pink or yellow. Found in the waters of Southeast Asia and the Coral Triangle.
12. Dumbo Octopus
This amazing mollusk of the Animalia kingdom prefers deep waters of up to 7000 meters below sea level, making this genus of deep-sea umbrella elephant the deepest ocean inhabitant of any other octopus.
When visible, these sea cuties can be found in the waters of the Monterey Bay, New Zealand, Philippines, Australia, and Martha’s Vineyard.
13. Harp Seal
Popularly referred to as whitecoats, these famous babies signify a sense of innocence, individuality and beauty.
Their images are prevalently captured and shared among the word, making the harbor seal pup one of the most recognizable and precious animals in nature.
These white wonders are extremely sociable creatures and live in the ice waters of the Antlantic and Arctic oceans.
