Reproductive cycles of marine mammals

Marine mammals conform to the general mammalian reproductive system centered on the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis. Most marine mammals are long-lived and of large body size with lesser reproductive rates than many other animals, a consequence of their interaction with the marine environment where the demands of acquiring resources from the ocean must be balanced with the need for bearing offspring in a suitable place for survival. The degree of spatial and temporal separation of these life history phases in many species is a key feature of their ecology. The reproductive physiology of pinnipeds, cetaceans, sirenians, sea otters and polar bears has been more thoroughly characterized for the more accessible species.