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John JS, Thometz NM, Boerner K, Denum L, Kendall TL, Richter BP, Gaspard JC, Williams TM. Metabolic trade-offs in tropical and subtropical marine mammals: unique maintenance and locomotion costs in West Indian manatees and Hawaiian monk seals. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:271210. [PMID: 34357378 PMCID: PMC8353161 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.237628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Unlike the majority of marine mammal species, Hawaiian monk seals (Neomonachus schauinslandi) and West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) reside exclusively in tropical or subtropical waters. Although potentially providing an energetic benefit through reduced maintenance and thermal costs, little is known about the cascading effects that may alter energy expenditure during activity, dive responses and overall energy budgets for these warm-water species. To examine this, we used open-flow respirometry to measure the energy expended during resting and swimming in both species. We found that the average resting metabolic rates (RMRs) for both the adult monk seal (753.8±26.1 kJ h-1, mean±s.e.m.) and manatees (887.7±19.5 kJ h-1) were lower than predicted for cold-water marine mammal species of similar body mass. Despite these relatively low RMRs, both total cost per stroke and total cost of transport (COTTOT) during submerged swimming were similar to predictions for comparably sized marine mammals (adult monk seal: cost per stroke=5.0±0.2 J kg-1 stroke-1, COTTOT=1.7±0.1 J kg-1 m-1; manatees: cost per stroke=2.0±0.4 J kg-1 stroke-1, COTTOT=0.87±0.17 J kg-1 m-1). These lower maintenance costs result in less variability in adjustable metabolic costs that occur during submergence for warm-water species. However, these reduced maintenance costs do not appear to confer an advantage in overall energetic costs during activity, potentially limiting the capacity of warm-water species to respond to anthropogenic or environmental threats that require increased energy expenditure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason S John
- University of California Santa Cruz, Coastal Biology Building, 130 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Nicole M Thometz
- University of California Santa Cruz, Coastal Biology Building, 130 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.,University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA
| | - Katharine Boerner
- Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA
| | - Laura Denum
- Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA
| | - Traci L Kendall
- University of California Santa Cruz, Coastal Biology Building, 130 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Beau P Richter
- University of California Santa Cruz, Coastal Biology Building, 130 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Joseph C Gaspard
- Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, One Wild Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA
| | - Terrie M Williams
- University of California Santa Cruz, Coastal Biology Building, 130 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
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Pagano AM, Williams TM. Physiological consequences of Arctic sea ice loss on large marine carnivores: unique responses by polar bears and narwhals. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:224/Suppl_1/jeb228049. [PMID: 33627459 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.228049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Rapid environmental changes in the Arctic are threatening the survival of marine species that rely on the predictable presence of the sea ice. Two Arctic marine mammal specialists, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) and narwhal (Monodon monoceros), appear especially vulnerable to the speed and capriciousness of sea ice deterioration as a consequence of their unique hunting behaviors and diet, as well as their physiological adaptations for slow-aerobic exercise. These intrinsic characteristics limit the ability of these species to respond to extrinsic threats associated with environmental change and increased industrial activity in a warming Arctic. In assessing how sea ice loss may differentially affect polar bears that hunt on the ice surface and narwhals that hunt at extreme depths below, we found that major ice loss translated into elevated locomotor costs that range from 3- to 4-fold greater than expected for both species. For polar bears this instigates an energy imbalance from the combined effects of reduced caloric intake and increased energy expenditure. For narwhals, high locomotor costs during diving increase the risk of ice entrapment due to the unreliability of breathing holes. These species-specific physiological constraints and extreme reliance on the polar sea ice conspire to make these two marine mammal specialists sentinels of climate change within the Arctic marine ecosystem that may foreshadow rapid changes to the marine ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony M Pagano
- Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, CA 92027, USA
| | - Terrie M Williams
- University of California, Santa Cruz, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
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Burns MD, Sidlauskas BL. Ancient and contingent body shape diversification in a hyperdiverse continental fish radiation. Evolution 2019; 73:569-587. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Accepted: 11/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael D. Burns
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Oregon State University Oregon 97330
| | - Brian L. Sidlauskas
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Oregon State University Oregon 97330
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Washington District of Columbia 20560
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Fish FE, Kolpas A, Crossett A, Dudas MA, Moored KW, Bart-Smith H. Kinematics of swimming of the manta ray: three-dimensional analysis of open-water maneuverability. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 221:jeb.166041. [PMID: 29487154 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.166041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
For aquatic animals, turning maneuvers represent a locomotor activity that may not be confined to a single coordinate plane, making analysis difficult, particularly in the field. To measure turning performance in a three-dimensional space for the manta ray (Mobula birostris), a large open-water swimmer, scaled stereo video recordings were collected. Movements of the cephalic lobes, eye and tail base were tracked to obtain three-dimensional coordinates. A mathematical analysis was performed on the coordinate data to calculate the turning rate and curvature (1/turning radius) as a function of time by numerically estimating the derivative of manta trajectories through three-dimensional space. Principal component analysis was used to project the three-dimensional trajectory onto the two-dimensional turn. Smoothing splines were applied to these turns. These are flexible models that minimize a cost function with a parameter controlling the balance between data fidelity and regularity of the derivative. Data for 30 sequences of rays performing slow, steady turns showed the highest 20% of values for the turning rate and smallest 20% of turn radii were 42.65±16.66 deg s-1 and 2.05±1.26 m, respectively. Such turning maneuvers fall within the range of performance exhibited by swimmers with rigid bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank E Fish
- Department of Biology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, USA
| | - Allison Kolpas
- Department of Mathematics, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, USA
| | - Andrew Crossett
- Department of Mathematics, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, USA
| | | | - Keith W Moored
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA
| | - Hilary Bart-Smith
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
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Williams TM, Kendall TL, Richter BP, Ribeiro-French CR, John JS, Odell KL, Losch BA, Feuerbach DA, Stamper MA. Swimming and diving energetics in dolphins: a stroke-by-stroke analysis for predicting the cost of flight responses in wild odontocetes. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 220:1135-1145. [PMID: 28298467 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.154245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 01/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Exponential increases in hydrodynamic drag and physical exertion occur when swimmers move quickly through water, and underlie the preference for relatively slow routine speeds by marine mammals regardless of body size. Because of this and the need to balance limited oxygen stores when submerged, flight (escape) responses may be especially challenging for this group. To examine this, we used open-flow respirometry to measure the energetic cost of producing a swimming stroke during different levels of exercise in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). These data were then used to model the energetic cost of high-speed escape responses by other odontocetes ranging in mass from 42 to 2738 kg. The total cost per stroke during routine swimming by dolphins, 3.31±0.20 J kg-1 stroke-1, was doubled during maximal aerobic performance. A comparative analysis of locomotor costs (LC; in J kg-1 stroke-1), representing the cost of moving the flukes, revealed that LC during routine swimming increased with body mass (M) for odontocetes according to LC=1.46±0.0005M; a separate relationship described LC during high-speed stroking. Using these relationships, we found that continuous stroking coupled with reduced glide time in response to oceanic noise resulted in a 30.5% increase in metabolic rate in the beaked whale, a deep-diving odontocete considered especially sensitive to disturbance. By integrating energetics with swimming behavior and dive characteristics, this study demonstrates the physiological consequences of oceanic noise on diving mammals, and provides a powerful tool for predicting the biological significance of escape responses by cetaceans facing anthropogenic disturbances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terrie M Williams
- Center for Ocean Health, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz, 115 MacAlister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Traci L Kendall
- Center for Ocean Health, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz, 115 MacAlister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Beau P Richter
- Center for Ocean Health, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz, 115 MacAlister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Courtney R Ribeiro-French
- Center for Ocean Health, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz, 115 MacAlister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Jason S John
- Center for Ocean Health, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz, 115 MacAlister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Kim L Odell
- Epcot's The Seas, Walt Disney World Resorts™, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000, USA
| | - Barbara A Losch
- Epcot's The Seas, Walt Disney World Resorts™, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000, USA
| | - David A Feuerbach
- Epcot's The Seas, Walt Disney World Resorts™, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000, USA
| | - M Andrew Stamper
- Epcot's The Seas, Walt Disney World Resorts™, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000, USA
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Ladds MA, Slip DJ, Harcourt RG. Swimming metabolic rates vary by sex and development stage, but not by species, in three species of Australian otariid seals. J Comp Physiol B 2016; 187:503-516. [PMID: 27803974 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-016-1046-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2016] [Revised: 10/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Physiology may limit the ability for marine mammals to adapt to changing environments. Depth and duration of foraging dives are a function of total available oxygen stores, which theoretically increase as animals grow, and metabolic costs. To evaluate how physiology may influence the travelling costs for seals to foraging patches in the wild, we measured metabolic rates of a cross-section of New Zealand fur seals, Australian fur seals and Australian sea lions representing different foraging strategies, development stages, sexes and sizes. We report values for standard metabolic rate, active metabolic rate (obtained from submerged swimming), along with estimates of cost of transport (COT), measured via respirometry. We found a decline in mass-specific metabolic rate with increased duration of submerged swimming. For most seals mass-specific metabolic rate increased with speed and for all seals mass-specific COT decreased with speed. Mass-specific metabolic rate was higher for subadult than adult fur seals and sea lions, corresponding to an overall higher minimum COT. Some sex differences were also apparent, such that female Australian fur seals and Australian sea lions had higher mass-specific metabolic rates than males. There were no species differences in standard or active metabolic rates for adult males or females. The seals in our study appear to operate at their physiological optimum during submerged swimming. However, the higher metabolic rates of young and female fur seals and sea lions may limit their scope for increasing foraging effort during times of resource limitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monique A Ladds
- Marine Predator Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2113, Australia.
| | - David J Slip
- Marine Predator Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2113, Australia.,Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Bradley's Head Road, Mosman, NSW, 2088, Australia
| | - Robert G Harcourt
- Marine Predator Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2113, Australia
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