The work presented addresses the combination of anguilliform swimming-based propulsion with the use of an electric sensing modality for a class of unmanned underwater vehicles, and in particular investigates the relative influence of adjustments to the swimming gait on the platform’s displacement speed and on sensing performance. This influence is quantified, for a relevant range of swimming ga...

Forces due to propulsion should approximate forces due to hydrodynamic drag for animals horizontally swimming at a constant speed with negligible buoyancy forces. Propulsive forces should also correlate with energy expenditures associated with locomotion-an important cost of foraging. As such, biologging tags containing accelerometers are being used to generate proxies for animal energy expendi...

Historically, the study of swimming eels (genus Anguilla) has been integral to our understanding of the mechanics and muscle activity patterns used by fish to propel themselves in the aquatic environment. However, no quantitative kinematic analysis has been reported for these animals. Additionally, eels are known to make transient terrestrial excursions, and in the past it has been presumed (bu...

Considerable progress in understanding the dynamics of fish locomotion has been made through studies of live fishes and by analyzing locomotor kinematics, muscle activity, and fluid dynamics. Studies of live fishes are limited, however, in their ability to control for parameters such as length, flexural stiffness, and kinematics. Keeping one of these factors constant while altering others in a ...

The breaststroke kick is responsible for a considerable portion of the forward propulsion in breaststroke swimming. The aim of this study was to measure selected anthropometric variables and functional properties of a swimmer's body: length of body parts; functional range of motion in the leg joints and anaerobic power of the lower limbs. Chosen kinematic variables useful in the evaluation of s...

Eggs released by broadcast-spawning marine invertebrates are often negatively buoyant. Blastulae and gastrulae of these species are commonly motile, with passive stability that leads to upward swimming in still water. The earliest occurrence of swimming in developing embryos of diverse invertebrates may therefore permit vertical migration in nature. I used turbulent and laminar shear flows to i...

Synopsis Considerable progress in understanding the dynamics of fish locomotion has been made through studies of live fishes and by analyzing locomotor kinematics, muscle activity, and fluid dynamics. Studies of live fishes are limited, however, in their ability to control for parameters such as length, flexural stiffness, and kinematics. Keeping one of these factors constant while altering oth...

In this paper, a literature review is presented regarding the hydrodynamic effects of different hand and arm movements during swimming with the aim to identify lacunae in current methods and knowledge, and to distil practical guidelines for coaches and swimmers seeking to increase swimming speed. Experimental and numerical studies are discussed, examining the effects of hand orientation, thumb ...