During diving, marine mammals initiate a series of cardiovascular changes that include bradycardia and decreased peripheral circulation. Because heat transfer from thermal windows located in peripheral sites of these mammals depends on blood flow, such adjustments may limit their thermoregulatory capabilities during submergence. Here, we demonstrate how the thermoregulatory responses of bottlen...

1. Time-depth data recorders (TDRs) have been widely used to explore the behaviour of relatively large, deep divers. However, little is known about the dive behaviour of small, shallow divers such as semi-aquatic mammals. 2. We used high-resolution TDRs to record the diving behaviour of American mink Mustela vison (weight of individuals 580-1275 g) in rivers in Oxfordshire (UK) between December...

PURPOSE To study by ultrasounds cardiac morphology and function early after breath-hold diving in deep water in elite athletes. METHODS Fifteen healthy male divers (age 28 +/- 3 years) were studied using Doppler-echocardiography, immediately before (basal condition, BC) and two minutes after breath-hold diving (40 meters, acute post-apnea condition, APAC). Each subject performed a series of t...

Harbour seals, Phoca vitulina, dive from birth, providing a means of mapping the development of the diving response, and so our objective was to investigate the postpartum development of diving bradycardia. The study was conducted May-July 2000 and 2001 in the St. Lawrence River Estuary (48 degrees 41'N, 68 degrees 01'W). Both depth and heart rate (HR) were remotely recorded during 86,931 dives...

The article describes a relatively new area of Russian tourist business – diving tourism. Diving, as one the most powerful tools for rehabilitation offers two efficient options at once: useful and not always accessible activity in everyday life contemplation an especially beautiful underwater world, therefore it can be included range services tour companies world. However, possibilities providi...

The metabolic rates of freely diving Weddell seals were measured using modern methods of on-line computer analysis coupled to oxygen consumption instrumentation. Oxygen consumption values were collected during sleep, resting periods while awake and during diving periods with the seals breathing at the surface of the water in an experimental sea-ice hole in Antarctica. Oxygen consumption during ...

Hypothermia may limit asphyxic damages to the brain, and many small homeotherms have been shown to use anapyrexic strategies when exposed to asphyxic conditions. Larger homeotherms do not seem to use the same strategy, but could save oxygen and prevent hypoxic brain damage by employing selective brain cooling (SBC) in connection with asphyxia. To test the hypothesis that selective brain cooling...

Scuba diving allows for underwater visitation of cultural and natural resources. Underwater routes can be used as a tool for guided and supervised underwater visits. Two scuba diving routes were implemented in the Algarve (South of Portugal), the “B24” and “Poço” diving sites. The perceptions of scuba divers regarding several aspects of the routes and the existing support infrastructures were s...

BACKGROUND Diving is associated with long-term effects on several organ systems. AIM The objective was to investigate the impact of decompression sickness (DCS) and diving exposure on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in former Norwegian North Sea divers. METHODS HRQL was recorded by a questionnaire in the cohort of 375 Norwegian North Sea divers registered before 1990. Demographic data...

Data rarely are available to address the level of predation risk faced by diving animals in different parts of the water column. Consequently, most published research on diving behaviour implicitly assumes like the proverbial ostrich that ‘unseen’ predators are functionally unimportant. We argue that failure to consider diving in a predation risk framework may have precluded many insights into ...