CAN YOU WORK OUT WHICH CREATURE WILL COME OUT ON TOP?
With over AWESOME animal facts
W HO W INS?
WHO WIN S?
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First published 2025 001
Text copyright © Children’s Character Books
Text by Thea Hay
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W HO WI N S?
1: Face to face in the deep
2: Eye-spy!
3: Best light show
4: The last bite!
5: Best escape artist
6: Best survivor
7: Lowest of the low
8: Most amazing structure Answers
CORAL REEFS
9: Catch me if you can!
THE BIG BLUE
17: Biggest f ish
18: Marathon traveller
19: Deadliest drif ter
20: Deepest diver
21: Fastest f ish
22: Most tactical hunter
23: Longest journey
24: Number-one mum! Answers GREEN SEAS
25: Top tactics
26: Sneakiest secret weapon
27: Best defender
28: Most deadly invader
29: Cleverest camouf lage
30: Deadliest assassin
31: Biggest seagrass snacker
32: Most menacing Answers COASTS
33: Smartest f isher
34: Champion limpet hunter
35: Who’s eating tonight?
36: Which nest is best?
37: Most blubber-ific polar animal!
38: Toughest trekker
39: Most caring parent
40: Arctic’s deepest diver Answers Glossary
Draw your favourite animals from the book! Picture credits
O N E O C E A N
Covering just over 70% of the surface of our planet, the world’s oceans are home to an amazing array of fish, mammals, reptiles and birds. These sea creatures are in constant competition with each other for prey, for dominance and for sheer survival. Many of these animals have developed incredible, sometimes unusual, adaptations that can give them an advantage over their competitors.
These adaptations – which we might also call their strengths or special features – will depend on what type of environment each sea creature lives in. Here are five examples of many different watery habitats:
THE DEEP
With some areas reaching depths of almost 11,000 metres, conditions are brutal in the alien world of the deep – where food and shelter is not only scarce, but hard to see. But this world is also full of surprises, home to a host of bizarre creatures with clever survival tactics.
CORAL REEFS
Tropical coral reefs exist in shallower, warmer parts of the oceans, usually not far from land. The reefs are made up of millions of corals, which are tiny animals rooted to the seabed. Coral reefs provide plenty of food and protective cover for many other creatures, so they become very crowded, leading to competition between all the animals that live there.
THE BIG BLUE
The middle of the ocean, which can be thousands of miles from land, is often called the Big Blue. Here, you can find some of Earth’s most impressive creatures. Many of them are adapted to be very fast and strong, or are capable of travelling huge distances, which is vital because food in the Big Blue is often very spread out.
GREEN SEAS
In some parts of the ocean, the sea is green, not blue – taking its colour from the rich plant life beneath the water. Kelp forests, mangroves and large stretches of sea grass attract huge numbers of sea creatures. In a similar way to coral reefs, these green seas offer a safe haven for animals where they can feed and take shelter – but that also means competition can be fierce, and large predators are never far away.
COASTS
Coasts are the areas where oceans meet land, and these habitats vary dramatically around the world – from warm, sandy shores to freezing polar coastlines. Whether they are made of sand, rock or ice, plenty of animal life thrives here: mammals and birds, fish and crustaceans. However, these landscapes are constantly changing and any animals that live there must adapt quickly.
As you explore each of these five habitats, you’ll meet a range of amazing ocean creatures and compare their different strengths and weaknesses. Some animals may be competing head to head for food or resources, while others could win the award for best escape artist or most extreme traveller. Sometimes you’ll weigh up different animal nests, or compare amazing underwater structures. In each scenario, it’s up to you to identify the winner!
Although in this book each contest has one winner, in the wild each animal has evolved to fill their own niche within their ecosystem and is successful in their own way. And in a predator-and-prey scenario, the same animal won’t win every time – sometimes the prey may escape, other times the predator will triumph. The natural world is full of surprises.
