Citation

Hooker SK, Fahlman A, Moore MJ, Aguilar de Soto N, Bernaldo de Quirós Y, Brubakk AO, Costa DP, Costidis AM, Dennison S, Falke KJ, Fernández A, Ferrigno M, Fitz-Clarke JR, Garner MM, Houser DS, Jepson PD, Ketten DR, Kvadsheim PH, Madsen PT, Pollock NW, Rotstein DS, Rowles TK, Simmons SE, Van Bonn W, Weathersby PK, Weise MJ, Williams TM, Tyack PL. Proc. Biol. Sci. 2012; 279(1731): 1041-1050.

Affiliation

Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, , Fife KY16 8LB, UK, Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, , Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA, Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, , Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA, Department of Animal Biology, La Laguna University, , 38256 Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Institute of Animal Health, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, , 35413 Arucas, Las Palmas, Spain, Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, , Trondheim, NO-7491, Norway, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA, Aquatic Animal Health Program & Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, , Gainesville, FL 32610, USA, The Marine Mammal Center, Sausalito, CA 94965, USA, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, , D-13353 Berlin, Germany, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Dalhousie University, , Halifax, Canada B3H 4H7, Northwest ZooPath, Monroe, WA 98272, USA, Biomimetica, Santee, CA 92071, USA, Institute of Zoology, , Regents Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA, Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), Horten, NO-3191, Norway, Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, , 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark, Divers Alert Network & Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA, Marine Mammal Commission, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA, Gales Ferry, CT 06335, USA, Office of Naval Research, Marine Mammals & Biological Oceanography Program, Arlington, VA 22203, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Royal Society of London)

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2011.2088

PMID

22189402

PMCID

PMC3267154

Abstract

Decompression sickness (DCS; 'the bends') is a disease associated with gas uptake at pressure. The basic pathology and cause are relatively well known to human divers. Breath-hold diving marine mammals were thought to be relatively immune to DCS owing to multiple anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations that reduce nitrogen gas (N(2)) loading during dives. However, recent observations have shown that gas bubbles may form and tissue injury may occur in marine mammals under certain circumstances. Gas kinetic models based on measured time-depth profiles further suggest the potential occurrence of high blood and tissue N(2) tensions. We review evidence for gas-bubble incidence in marine mammal tissues and discuss the theory behind gas loading and bubble formation. We suggest that diving mammals vary their physiological responses according to multiple stressors, and that the perspective on marine mammal diving physiology should change from simply minimizing N(2) loading to management of the N(2) load. This suggests several avenues for further study, ranging from the effects of gas bubbles at molecular, cellular and organ function levels, to comparative studies relating the presence/absence of gas bubbles to diving behaviour. Technological advances in imaging and remote instrumentation are likely to advance this field in coming years.

Language: en