Elephants vs. Elephant Seals: How do aquatic animals hold their breath for so long?
Oxygen allows animals to use metabolic processes such as cellular respiration to provide energy for cells, and therefore
to the entire body. In order for life to continue, then, oxygen must always be available. When organisms start running
low on oxygen, they can switch to anaerobic respiration but much less energy is available and fatigue sets in.
So, how is it that aquatic, air-breathing mammals can spend so much time underwater without coming up for air?
Part 2: Observe the data in the following table.
Comparison of dive statistics for air-breathing animals.
Species
Humans
Homo sapiens
1658
Leatherback turtle
Dermochelys coriacea
Bottlenose dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Emperor penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri
Northern elephant seal
Syman Mirounga angustirostris
Beaked whale
Ziphius cavirostris
Sperm Whale
Physeter macrocephalus
Maximum Maximum
depth duration
(meters) (minutes)
214
1230
390
564
1,581
1,888
2,250
9¹
fa
67.3
nidolpoyM
8
23.1
119
85
138
Total Hemoglobin Myoglobin Blood
(g/dl) (g/100g) volume
(ml/kg)
oxygen
stores
(ml/kg>
28 (20
27
36
53
97
unknown
77
Answer the following questions using the data provided in the data table above.
1. What patterns/relationships do you see in the data above?
14.5
15.6
14
18
25
unknown
22
0.3-0.4
4.9
6.4
3.3 71
6.5
4.3
70
5.0
77
100
250
unknown
200
2. What factors listed influence the dive depth and dive time of the organisms? How can you tell?
18
3. Look at the data and determine what factors are most significant in how long an animal can stay under water.
(9001
dolgo
Based on the data what do you think hemoglobin and myoglobin do?