# Can Sea Mammals Live in Fresh Water **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sea-mammals-live-in-fresh-water/502524 "2009-07-10T02:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sea-mammals-live-in-fresh-water/502524/21 "2010-10-08T00:57:38Z")
> [@SmithCommaJohn](#): > > After all, most of them are presumably able to hydrate by drinking saltwater, which would probably mean that their bodies are adapted to the presence of much higher levels of sodium than most land mammals. In general, marine mammals hydrate from their food and don’t drink at all. There are exceptions, but for sea lions in particular, drinking is a sign of ill health, including kidney failure - see [Leptospirosis | The Marine Mammal Center](http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/science/top-research-projects/leptospirosis.html) for some details. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sea-mammals-live-in-fresh-water/502524/22 "2010-10-08T05:28:01Z")
If I understood correctly what a marine biologist was telling me, the two major problems salt water mammals in fresh water are susceptibility to diseases and organisms that live in fresh water, and maintaining the proper balance of salt internally. They apparently concentrate salt in urine and may do so to an excess. But the change of environment is not fatal in itself, instead it creates a stressful condition that weakens the animal, leaving susceptible to other problems. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sea-mammals-live-in-fresh-water/502524/23 "2010-10-08T11:28:48Z")
Curiously, there are populations of manatees in Chad and Mali, both landlocked countries. The Mali ones live around 2000 kilometres up the Niger from the sea, and the Chad ones (assuming they’re still extant) live in a couple of lakes and also rivers that drain into Lake Chad. Both populations are standard West African manatees, ifaik. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sea-mammals-live-in-fresh-water/502524/24 "2010-10-08T12:03:40Z")
There are freshwater seals in lake [Saimaa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saimaa) in Finland. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sea-mammals-live-in-fresh-water/502524.md?page=1)