First published online July 20, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 2607-2617 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.008078
Blood oxygen depletion during rest-associated apneas of northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris)
T. K. Stockard1,
D. H. Levenson1,
L. Berg2,
J. R. Fransioli1,
E. A. Baranov3 and
P. J. Ponganis1,*
1 Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093-0204,
USA
2 US Naval Medical Center, Balboa Hospital, San Diego, CA 92134,
USA
3 Limnological Institute, Siberian Division of Russian Academy of Sciences,
Irkutsk, Russia

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Fig. 1. Changes in arterial PO2 (A) and
O2 content (B) as a function of time into apnea. Points in A and B
are individual blood samples from five seals (see
Table 2 for labels of
individual seals). (A) Equation for exponential rate of
PO2 decline:
y=58e(–x/2.32)+765e(–x/0.10)
+21.8 (r2=0.93, N=82). (B) Equation for linear
depletion of O2 content: y=–2.34x+27.2
(r2=0.68, N=82, P<0.0001).
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Fig. 2. Changes in venous PO2 (A) and O2
content (B) with time into apnea. Individual data points (see
Table 2 for labels of seals)
from each of the three venous compartments are indicated by color: extradural
vein (EDV; red), central veins (CV; green) and pulmonary artery (PA; blue);
curve fits indicating compartmental trends are shown in the same respective
colors. (A) Equation, from all data pooled (black line), for exponential rate
of PO2 decline:
y=43.7e(–x/4.30)+15.8
(r2=0.71, N=163). (B) Equation from pooled data
(black line) for linear depletion rate of O2 content:
y=–2.01x+26.0 (r2=0.54,
P<0.0001, N=163).
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Fig. 3. Comparison of arterial (red) and venous (blue) blood in terms of
PO2 (A) and O2 content (B). The
venous system is highly saturated; PO2 and
O2 content in both the arterial and venous blood become
indistinguishable soon into apnea. (Regression equations are the same as in
Figs 1 and
2.)
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Fig. 4. Comparison of arterial and venous blood parameters
(PCO2, pH, [Hb] and Hct) during apnea. See
Table 2 for labels of
individual seals.
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Fig. 5. Arterial end-of-apnea blood values as a function of apnea duration. Samples
were drawn within the last minute of apnea. Dotted lines have been added as a
visual aid only, to indicate trends, and do not imply any statistical
significance. See Table 2 for
labels of individual seals.
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007