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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

even the most fiercely devoted Polar Bear Club members are only human [csmonitor.com], and woefully limited [livescience.com] compared to other animals that have adaptations for swimming in cold ocean waters. Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Ocean Giants Program, told Live Science that, for many marine mammal species, a thick layer of fat called blubber is "first and foremost" in their list of defenses against the cold. Blubber operates both as insulation and as an energy source.

Some animals, such as seals and sea otters, have coats with two layers of dense fur — a thick undercoat and a covering layer of longer guard hairs. These insulate the animals by trapping layers of air near the skin, helping the sea creatures conserve heat, Rosenbaum said. The southern sea otter [livescience.com], which lacks blubber, has particularly dense fur, with approximately 1 million hairs per square inch (6.5 square centimeters), more than any other known animal.

Heat exchange within the body and metabolic adjustments also help marine animals regulate their temperatures, G. Carleton Ray, a biologist and research professor at the University of Virginia, told Live Science. These processes work together, along with insulating factors like blubber or fur, to help animals keep warm or cool down, he said.

Come on in, the water's...fine.

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