Why are the swimming dinosaurs not still alive today?

Dear Kendall,

Thank you very much for sending this thoughtful question. Dinosaurs were land-living reptiles. Even though some of them could swim, like other land-living animals such as tigers or horses, they would not have been able to swim long enough to survive the Flood. There were, however, marine reptiles that lived in the water that resembled dinosaurs. Why are those marine reptiles extinct? First, we must understand that the Flood was so powerful that it not only killed all the land-living animals, but it killed many of the creatures that lived in water. In fact, most of the fossils caused by the Flood are creatures that lived in the oceans. Second, many of the marine reptiles lived for hundreds or thousands of years after the Flood. Stories from ancient cultures tell of sea dragons that match the descriptions of marine reptiles. Third, there are still some very interesting marine reptiles that are alive today. The saltwater crocodile can grow to be 20 feet long and weigh more than 2,000 pounds. According to the evolutionary time scale, saltwater crocodiles lived during the time of the dinosaurs (of course, we know this was not millions of years ago). The truth is, if the saltwater crocodile was extinct, scientists would include it with the other ferocious, marine reptiles. Furthermore, other marine reptiles like sea turtles that supposedly go back to the time of the dinosaurs are still alive today.  

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