Factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving Weddell seals under natural conditions
Aquatic animals use a variety of strategies to reduce the energetic cost of locomotion. Efficient locomotion is particularly important for breath-holding divers because high levels of exercise may quickly deplete oxygen reserves, leading to the termination of a dive. We investigated the swimming beh...
Published in: | Journal of Experimental Biology |
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:jexbio:206/9/1461 2023-05-15T13:49:19+02:00 Factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving Weddell seals under natural conditions Sato, Katsufumi Mitani, Yoko Cameron, Michael F. Siniff, Donald B. Naito, Yasuhiko 2003-05-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/206/9/1461 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00265 en eng Company of Biologists http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/206/9/1461 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00265 Copyright (C) 2003, Company of Biologists Research Article TEXT 2003 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00265 2015-02-28T20:06:54Z Aquatic animals use a variety of strategies to reduce the energetic cost of locomotion. Efficient locomotion is particularly important for breath-holding divers because high levels of exercise may quickly deplete oxygen reserves, leading to the termination of a dive. We investigated the swimming behavior of eight adult Weddell seals, which are proficient divers, in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. A newly developed data logger was attached to free-ranging females at their own breeding sites to record swimming speed, depth, two-dimensional accelerations (stroke frequency and body angle) and temperature. All seals conducted multiple deep dives (the mean dive depth range for each animal was 223.3±66.5–297.9±164.7 m). Prolonged gliding while descending was observed with thinner females ( N =5 seals). But the fatter females ( N =3 seals) exhibited only swim-and-glide swimming, characterized by intermittent stroking and fluctuating swim speed, throughout their descent and ascent. The body angles of four of the seals were restricted to less than 30° by the location of breathing holes in the ice and the slope of local bathymetric features. Of these four, the three fatter seals adopted the stroke-and-glide method while the other thinner seal descended with prolonged periods of gliding. Prolonged gliding seems to be a more efficient method for locomotion because the surface time between dives of gliding seals was significantly less than that of stroking animals, despite their same stroke frequencies. Text Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Sound Weddell Seals HighWire Press (Stanford University) McMurdo Sound Weddell Journal of Experimental Biology 206 9 1461 1470 |
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HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
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fthighwire |
language |
English |
topic |
Research Article |
spellingShingle |
Research Article Sato, Katsufumi Mitani, Yoko Cameron, Michael F. Siniff, Donald B. Naito, Yasuhiko Factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving Weddell seals under natural conditions |
topic_facet |
Research Article |
description |
Aquatic animals use a variety of strategies to reduce the energetic cost of locomotion. Efficient locomotion is particularly important for breath-holding divers because high levels of exercise may quickly deplete oxygen reserves, leading to the termination of a dive. We investigated the swimming behavior of eight adult Weddell seals, which are proficient divers, in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. A newly developed data logger was attached to free-ranging females at their own breeding sites to record swimming speed, depth, two-dimensional accelerations (stroke frequency and body angle) and temperature. All seals conducted multiple deep dives (the mean dive depth range for each animal was 223.3±66.5–297.9±164.7 m). Prolonged gliding while descending was observed with thinner females ( N =5 seals). But the fatter females ( N =3 seals) exhibited only swim-and-glide swimming, characterized by intermittent stroking and fluctuating swim speed, throughout their descent and ascent. The body angles of four of the seals were restricted to less than 30° by the location of breathing holes in the ice and the slope of local bathymetric features. Of these four, the three fatter seals adopted the stroke-and-glide method while the other thinner seal descended with prolonged periods of gliding. Prolonged gliding seems to be a more efficient method for locomotion because the surface time between dives of gliding seals was significantly less than that of stroking animals, despite their same stroke frequencies. |
format |
Text |
author |
Sato, Katsufumi Mitani, Yoko Cameron, Michael F. Siniff, Donald B. Naito, Yasuhiko |
author_facet |
Sato, Katsufumi Mitani, Yoko Cameron, Michael F. Siniff, Donald B. Naito, Yasuhiko |
author_sort |
Sato, Katsufumi |
title |
Factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving Weddell seals under natural conditions |
title_short |
Factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving Weddell seals under natural conditions |
title_full |
Factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving Weddell seals under natural conditions |
title_fullStr |
Factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving Weddell seals under natural conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving Weddell seals under natural conditions |
title_sort |
factors affecting stroking patterns and body angle in diving weddell seals under natural conditions |
publisher |
Company of Biologists |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/206/9/1461 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00265 |
geographic |
McMurdo Sound Weddell |
geographic_facet |
McMurdo Sound Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Sound Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Sound Weddell Seals |
op_relation |
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/206/9/1461 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00265 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2003, Company of Biologists |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00265 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Biology |
container_volume |
206 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1461 |
op_container_end_page |
1470 |
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1766251167030968320 |