Bioenergetics in the killer whale, orcinus orca ...
A series of three papers is presented, each one related to the bioenergetics of killer whales, Orcinus orca. The first chapter describes how standard and realized metabolic rates were determined in captive killer whales by collecting respirations at different apneas and different activity states by...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of British Columbia
2009
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0088104 https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0088104 |
| Summary: | A series of three papers is presented, each one related to the bioenergetics of killer whales, Orcinus orca. The first chapter describes how standard and realized metabolic rates were determined in captive killer whales by collecting respirations at different apneas and different activity states by training the animals to exhale into a funnel onto which a meteorological balloon was attached. These exhalations were analyzed for tidal volumes and respiratory gases; estimates of realized metabolic rates were based on activity budgets observed in the individual animals. Tidal volumes at rest were 2.7 to 4.2 times higher than those predicted by allometric equations, while estimated vital capacities are estimated to lie between 68% and 94% of the values predicted by allometric equations. Standard metabolic rates for the adult animals were similar to Kleiber’s estimates (1.2 to 1.3 times Kleiber). Realized metabolic rates were between 2.7 and 2.9 times those of the whales’ SMR, which are values similar to those of ... |
|---|