Deep - diving marine mammals , like baleen heavyweight and some sealskin and sea Leo the Lion , have elevated story of the oxygen - carrying protein myoglobin within their muscle . This allow them to amass O at the Earth’s surface to store in the sinew for supporting their long , drawn-out dives . Young baleen whales develop eminent myoglobin levels as they maturate , and according to a newPLOS ONEstudy , exercising helps drive the development of these myoglobin stores .
By not hold to get along up for air that much , marine mammal can exploit deeper food reference . Their myoglobin levels are between 10 and 20 times corking than their mundane opposite number . late oeuvre revealed that level of muscular myoglobin can vary a lot during the exploitation of sea lions , seals , dolphins , and porpoises , but little is know about myoglobin spirit level in baleen whales .
To investigate , a squad lead byRachel Cartwrightof California State University Channel Islands examined samples of muscle tissue paper collected from 18 strand whales . These included calves , juveniles , and adult from three dissimilar species : minke ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata ) , humpback ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) , and gray ( Eschrichtius robustus ) whales . The team also compared myoglobin level between and within the heftiness , and they studied the deviation in myoglobin accumulation rate in the young whales .
taste site used for the provision of muscle tissue sample distribution . Yvette Hansen
The development of elevated myoglobin levels is sustain over the course of their extended maturement . The calves have between 17 and 22.8 percentage of the muscular myoglobin stock of adults , and juvenile myoglobin levels ranged between 28 and 60 percentage of grownup levels .
The squad also found that levels of physical exercise may act upon the pace of development of myoglobin stores in some young whales . While grey whale calf are quiescent and aeriform behaviour are rare , bouts of energetically expensive exercise – such as transgress ( pictured above ) – occur oft during the former developing of hunchback . In fact , it ’s common to see 30 or more consecutive breaches .
" untested hunchback whale calves oftentimes wage in extended sequences of breaching , even at a very vernal age . These gamy story of exercise have always been something of a paradox , given the limitations on maternal energy imagination during the rearing season , " Cartwright excuse in astatement . " This intense practice drive development of oxygen stores in the brawn tissue paper , allowing untested giant to build up their breath - holding capacity and make affirm , prolonged nosedive . "
