Abstract
We studied the ventilatory response to hypoxia and hypercapnia in five freely diving juvenile Weddell seals (age = 2 years) at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The ventilatory response to CO 2 was brisk, with minute ventilation increasing as a linear function of end tidal CO 2 with an average slope of 3.1 L · (min · mm Hg) −1. The ventilatory response to hypoxia was small and variable. End tidal P O2 values as low as 28 mm Hg provoked at most a doubling of minute ventilation. These results were supported by the observation that elevated end tidal CO 2 always inhibited voluntary diving whereas low P O2 values did not. Comparison of the Weddell seals' CO 2 responsiveness to that of other mammals reveals similar CO 2 sensitivity. We conclude that CO 2 is the major determinant of ventilatory drive in wild Weddell seals.
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