Abstract
The present study summarizes the factors contributing to oxygen storage capacity in several species of marine mammals. Additional data are presented on respiratory properties of blood. Phocid seals showed the highest Hb concentration and hematocrit which correlate with longer and deeper dives in comparison with the otariid seals, the walrus and the sea otter which were also studied. A larger circulating blood volume in the phocid seals gave them a blood O 2 storage capacity more than twice the average for the other species studied. Muscle myoglobin concentration was also about twice as high in the phocid seals. The lung oxygen storage capacity calculated from maximum lung volume, was conversely smaller in the phocid seals than in the other species studied. The sea otter was exceptional with a very high lung O 2 storage capacity making up two thirds of the total capacity. The larger total O 2 storage capacity in the phocid seals is discussed in relation to the diving behavior of the animals. The respiratory properties of blood showed no significant adaptive features in O 2-Hb affinity or Bohr shift, but a distinctly higher buffering capacity distinguishes blood of marine mammals from terrestrial non-diving species.
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