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First published online June 15, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 2576-2585 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02273

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The effect of myoglobin concentration on aerobic dive limit in a Weddell seal

T. J. Wright^* and R. W. Davis

Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77551, USA and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: traywright{at}hotmail.com)

Accepted 18 April 2006

One physiological adaptation for prolonged dive duration in marine mammals is an elevated myoglobin (Mb) concentration in skeletal muscle. To determine the influence of Mb concentration on the aerobic dive limit (ADL), we modified a previously published model that simulated aerobic dives in a Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) and ran it for four Mb concentrations: 5, 27, 54 and 108 g Mb kg^–1 muscle representing 7%, 50%, 100% and 200%, respectively, of the normal Mb concentration in Weddell seal skeletal muscle. The model was run at increasing levels of muscular exertion and under postabsorptive and postprandial conditions to determine their effect on ADL. For each set of conditions, the model was also run at different levels of cardiac output (i.e. the dive response was varied) to determine the level of convective oxygen transport that optimized the ADL. In a postabsorptive state at a routine level of muscular exertion for a diving Weddell seal, a decrease in Mb concentration to 7% of normal caused a 39% decrease in the ADL (18 min to 11 min), while doubling the Mb concentration increased the ADL by 30% (18 min to 24 min). Under postprandial conditions at a routine level of muscular exertion, doubling the Mb concentration did not increase the ADL (12 min). The convective oxygen transport needed to meet the metabolic demands (Heat Increment of Feeding, HIF) of the splanchnic organs during digestion and assimilation required a cardiac output that was not optimal for the efficient use of muscle oxygen stores. This resulted in an over perfusion of the muscles and incomplete use of myoglobin-bound oxygen. As a result, the postprandial ADL was limited by the amount of oxygen stored in the blood, and increasing the Mb concentration had no effect on the ADL. We hypothesize that myoglobin concentration is optimized for the type and duration of dives routinely made by Weddell seals, and that a further increase may not increase the ADL for most free-ranging dives.

Key words: Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddellii, myoglobin, diving, ADL, postabsorptive, postprandial

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