Beluga Whales :: essays research papers

A. Swimming. 1. In general, white whale whales are s low gear submergemers. They commonly swim roughly 3 to 9 kph (1.9-5.6 mph). They are, however, capable of sustaining a maximum revivify of 22 kph (13.6 mph) for as ample as 15 legal proceeding (Nowak, 1991 Ridgway and Harrison, 1981). 2. Belugas can swim forward and backward (Nowak, 1991). 3. Beluga whales often swim at depths barely covering their bodies (Ridgway and Harrison, 1981). B. Diving. 1. Beluga whales typically dont dive precise deep, usually to about 20 m (66 ft.). Belugas are not chiefly thought of as deep- diving event marine mammals, but they are capable of diving to extreme depths. Under experimental conditions a trained beluga whale repeatedly dove to 400 m (1,312 ft.) with ease, and even dove to a depth of 647 m (2,123 ft.) (Nowak, 1991 Ridgway et. al., 1984). 2. A typical dive usually lasts collar to five minutes, but belugas can stay submerged for as long as 15 minutes (Nowak, 1991 Ridgway and Harriso n, 1981). 3. In estuaries the usual diving taking over lasts about two minutes the sequence consists of five to six change dives followed by a one-minute-long deeper dive (Ridgway and Harrison, 1981). 4. All marine mammals have physiological adaptations for diving. These adaptations enable a beluga whale to conserve oxygen era its under water. a. Beluga whales, like other marine mammals, have a slower partiality rate while diving. A beluga whales heart rate slows from about 100 to about 12 to 20 overcome per minute during a dive (Ridgway, 1972).b. When diving, blood is shunted away from tissues tolerant of low oxygen levels toward the heart, lungs, and brain, where oxygen is needed.c. Beluga whales retain more oxygen in their blood than most mammals do. A beluga whales blood volume per centum (5.5%) is uplifteder than a land mammals, and similar to a Weddell seals (a deep-diving marine mammal). peerless study found a female beluga to have 16.5 l (17.4 qt.) of oxygen in her blood (Ridgway et. al., 1984).d. The muscle of beluga whales has a high content of the oxygen-binding protein myoglobin. Myoglobin stores oxygen and helps prevent muscle oxygen deficiency.C. Respiration. 1. A beluga whale breathes through a single blowhole, a modified wasted opening. a. The beluga whale holds its breath while under water.b. It opens its blowhole and begins to run out just before reaching the surface of the water.c.