Diving Physiology of Marine Mammals and Seabirds

Analysing the physiological adaptations of marine mammals and seabirds, this book provides a comprehensive overview of what allows these species to overcome the challenges of diving to depth on a single breath of air. Through comparative reviews of texts on diving physiology and behaviour from the last seventy-five years, Ponganis combines this research into one succinct volume. Investigating the diving performance of marine mammals and seabirds, this book illustrates how physiological processes to extreme hypoxia and pressure are relevant to the advancement of our understanding of basic cellular processes and human pathologies. This book underscores the biomedical and ecological relevance of the anatomical, physiological and molecular/biophysical adaptations of these animals to enable further research in this area. An important resource for students and researchers, this text not only provides an essential overview of recent research in the field, but will stimulate further research into the behaviour and physiology of diving.

Preface; 1. Diving behavior; 2. Challenges of the breath hold and the environment; 3. Respiratory gas exchange; 4. Oxygen storage and transport; 5. Cardiovascular dive response; 6. Adaptations in cardiovascular anatomy and hemodynamics; 7. Muscle and locomotory work; 8. Thermoregulation; 9. Diving metabolism; 10. The aerobic dive limit (ADL); 11. Pressure tolerance; 12. Hypoxemic tolerance; 13. Biomedical relevance; References; Index.

Paul Ponganis is a Research Marine Biologist and Marine Physiologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. A leading expert in the field and also an anaesthesiologist, his primary clinical interests are in cardiac anaesthesia, which he has practised for the last thirty years in conjunction with his research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His research has focused on the diving physiology of marine mammals and penguins at field sites around the world. In recognition of their Antarctic research, the Ponganis Icefall on Coulman Island was named after him and his wife.