Marine mammal Marine mammal Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They do not represent a distinct taxon or systematic grouping, but rather have a polyphyletic relation due to convergent evolution, as in they do not have an immediate common ancestor. They are also unified by their reliance on the marine environment for feeding. Marine mammal adaptation to an aquatic lifestyle varies considerably between species. Both cetaceans and sirenians are fully aquatic and therefore are obligate water dwellers. Seals
The Marine Mammal Center operating budget came from private donations and individual and family memberships. The Marine Mammal Center presently has a paid staff of 45 individuals. Its operation is reliant on several hundred volunteers who are trained in rescue, release, animal care, and education. The main facility in Sausalito can accommodate approximately 1,200 animals a year; although a typical year brings between 600-800 patient. In 2009, a lack of available fish related to the El Nino weather pattern brought 1,750 patients to the Marine Mammal Center, more than in any other year since it opened. 2012 marked the year with the highest percentage