spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Boyd, I. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Boyd, I. L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 203, Issue 12 1907-1914, Copyright © 2000 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Skin temperatures during free-ranging swimming and diving in antarctic fur seals

IL Boyd
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, UK. i.boyd@bas.ac.uk

This study tests the hypothesis that an endothermic homeotherm should minimise heat flux in cold polar waters by minimising skin temperature. Temperature variability was measured at the surface of the skin of three Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at intervals of 2 s over a total of 9.7 days while they were swimming and diving freely in polar waters at temperatures of 1.5-4 degrees C. The temperature difference ( capdelta T) between skin on the dorsal thorax and the water varied from more than 20 degrees C to close to equality over periods of less than 1 h. Shorter-term variations in capdelta T of up to 5 degrees C occurred in association with diving, although these types of variations also occurred without diving. In general, capdelta T began to decline during the descent phase of a dive and began to increase again during the ascent or at the end of the dive. One of the three individuals examined showed little variation in capdelta T, which remained low (approximately 3 degrees C) throughout the experiment. In the other two fur seals, capdelta T tended to decline during periods of sustained diving and usually increased during periods spent at the surface. Mean calculated heat flux varied from 95 to 236 W m(-)(2) depending on the individual. Metabolic rates based on these calculated heat fluxes were towards the lower end of those measured in previous studies using different methodologies. The study has shown that Antarctic fur seal skin temperature is highly dynamic and suggests that the thoracic surface is an organ used for active thermoregulation.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Phil Trans R Soc BHome page
J.R Lovvorn
Thermal substitution and aerobic efficiency: measuring and predicting effects of heat balance on endotherm diving energetics
Phil Trans R Soc B, November 29, 2007; 362(1487): 2079 - 2093.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Phil Trans R Soc BHome page
D. A.S Rosen, A. J Winship, and L. A Hoopes
Thermal and digestive constraints to foraging behaviour in marine mammals
Phil Trans R Soc B, November 29, 2007; 362(1487): 2151 - 2168.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
B. Mauck, K. Bilgmann, D. D. Jones, U. Eysel, and G. Dehnhardt
Thermal windows on the trunk of hauled-out seals: hot spots for thermoregulatory evaporation?
J. Exp. Biol., May 15, 2003; 206(10): 1727 - 1738.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2000