Exercise at Depth Alters Bradycardia and Incidence of Cardiac Anomalies in Deep-Diving Marine Mammals
Unlike their terrestrial ancestors, marine mammals routinely confront extreme physiological and physical challenges while breath-holding and pursuing prey at depth. To determine how cetaceans and pinnipeds accomplish deep-sea chases, we deployed animal-borne instruments that recorded high-resolution...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center
2015
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://repository.usfca.edu/biol_fac/50 https://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=biol_fac |
| Summary: | Unlike their terrestrial ancestors, marine mammals routinely confront extreme physiological and physical challenges while breath-holding and pursuing prey at depth. To determine how cetaceans and pinnipeds accomplish deep-sea chases, we deployed animal-borne instruments that recorded high-resolution electrocardiograms, behaviour and flipper accelerations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) diving from the surface to 4200 m. Here we report that both exercise and depth alter the bradycardia associated with the dive response, with the greatest impacts at depths inducing lung collapse. Unexpectedly, cardiac arrhythmias occurred in 473% of deep, aerobic dives, which we attribute to the interplay between sympathetic and parasympathetic drivers for exercise and diving, respectively. Such marked cardiac variability alters the common view of a stereotypic ‘dive reflex’ in diving mammals. It also suggests the persistence of ancestral terrestrial traits in cardiac function that may help explain the unique sensitivity of some deep-diving marine mammals to anthropogenic disturbances. |
|---|