Question

Diving mammals, such as a seal, must deal with lower levels of available oxygen. Describe two anatomical or physiological features that allow the animal to handle these conditions during a dive.

Answer 1

By limiting dive duration, seals maintain aerobic metabolism, avoid lactate buildup that occurs in the face of insufficient oxygen and require little time to recover. Seals tolerate Hypoxia (condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level) better than other mammals.

• While breathing air, seals shiver just like other animals.The seals shivered on the surface but stopped or nearly stopped shivering when they dove, even though their bodies continued to cool. Their heart rates and temperatures dropped while they dove, but when they returned to the surface they restarted their shivering nearly immediately.
• Seals have a remarkable capacity to store oxygen in their blood and muscles -- four times as much as humans.