Metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina
The ability of air‐breathing marine predators to forage successfully depends on their ability to remain submerged. This is in turn related to their total O2 stores and the rate at which these stores are used up while submerged. Body size was positively related to dive duration in a sample of 34 adul...
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ftdeakinunifig:oai:figshare.com:article/20873122 2024-09-09T19:38:54+00:00 Metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina MA Hindell MA Lea MG Morrice CR MacMahon 2000-11-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30095258 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Metabolic_limits_on_dive_duration_and_swimming_speed_in_the_southern_elephant_seal_Mirounga_leonina/20873122 unknown http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30095258 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Metabolic_limits_on_dive_duration_and_swimming_speed_in_the_southern_elephant_seal_Mirounga_leonina/20873122 All Rights Reserved Animal physiology - biophysics Animal physiology - cell Animal physiology - systems Zoology not elsewhere classified Medical physiology not elsewhere classified southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina dive duration O2 stores body size Macquarie Island swimming speed submerged depth aerobic capacity Text Journal contribution 2000 ftdeakinunifig 2024-06-20T00:47:39Z The ability of air‐breathing marine predators to forage successfully depends on their ability to remain submerged. This is in turn related to their total O2 stores and the rate at which these stores are used up while submerged. Body size was positively related to dive duration in a sample of 34 adult female southern elephant seals from Macquarie Island. However, there was no relationship between body size and dive depth. This indicates that smaller seals, with smaller total O2 stores, make shorter dives than larger individuals but operate at similar depths, resulting in less time being spent at depth. Nine adult female elephant seals were also equipped with velocity time depth recorders. In eight of these seals, a plot of swimming speed against dive duration revealed a cloud of points with a clear upper boundary. This boundary could be described using regression analysis and gave a significant negative relationship in most cases. These results indicate that metabolic rate varies with activity levels, as indicated by swimming speed, and that there are quantifiable limits to the distance that a seal can travel on a dive of a given swimming speed. However, the seals rarely dive to these physiological limits, and the majority of their dives are well within their aerobic capacity. Elephant seals therefore appear to dive in a way that ensures that they have a reserve of O2 available. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Macquarie Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals DRO - Deakin Research Online |
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DRO - Deakin Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftdeakinunifig |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Animal physiology - biophysics Animal physiology - cell Animal physiology - systems Zoology not elsewhere classified Medical physiology not elsewhere classified southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina dive duration O2 stores body size Macquarie Island swimming speed submerged depth aerobic capacity |
spellingShingle |
Animal physiology - biophysics Animal physiology - cell Animal physiology - systems Zoology not elsewhere classified Medical physiology not elsewhere classified southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina dive duration O2 stores body size Macquarie Island swimming speed submerged depth aerobic capacity MA Hindell MA Lea MG Morrice CR MacMahon Metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina |
topic_facet |
Animal physiology - biophysics Animal physiology - cell Animal physiology - systems Zoology not elsewhere classified Medical physiology not elsewhere classified southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina dive duration O2 stores body size Macquarie Island swimming speed submerged depth aerobic capacity |
description |
The ability of air‐breathing marine predators to forage successfully depends on their ability to remain submerged. This is in turn related to their total O2 stores and the rate at which these stores are used up while submerged. Body size was positively related to dive duration in a sample of 34 adult female southern elephant seals from Macquarie Island. However, there was no relationship between body size and dive depth. This indicates that smaller seals, with smaller total O2 stores, make shorter dives than larger individuals but operate at similar depths, resulting in less time being spent at depth. Nine adult female elephant seals were also equipped with velocity time depth recorders. In eight of these seals, a plot of swimming speed against dive duration revealed a cloud of points with a clear upper boundary. This boundary could be described using regression analysis and gave a significant negative relationship in most cases. These results indicate that metabolic rate varies with activity levels, as indicated by swimming speed, and that there are quantifiable limits to the distance that a seal can travel on a dive of a given swimming speed. However, the seals rarely dive to these physiological limits, and the majority of their dives are well within their aerobic capacity. Elephant seals therefore appear to dive in a way that ensures that they have a reserve of O2 available. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MA Hindell MA Lea MG Morrice CR MacMahon |
author_facet |
MA Hindell MA Lea MG Morrice CR MacMahon |
author_sort |
MA Hindell |
title |
Metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina |
title_short |
Metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina |
title_full |
Metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina |
title_fullStr |
Metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina |
title_full_unstemmed |
Metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina |
title_sort |
metabolic limits on dive duration and swimming speed in the southern elephant seal mirounga leonina |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30095258 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Metabolic_limits_on_dive_duration_and_swimming_speed_in_the_southern_elephant_seal_Mirounga_leonina/20873122 |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Macquarie Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Macquarie Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30095258 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Metabolic_limits_on_dive_duration_and_swimming_speed_in_the_southern_elephant_seal_Mirounga_leonina/20873122 |
op_rights |
All Rights Reserved |
_version_ |
1809908055771447296 |