Summary
The rates of lactate and glucose production, removal, and oxidation were measured in harbor seals before and after 10 min restrained dives using radioisotope tracer techniques. The results show:
-
1.
Net turnover rates were 24 μmol·min−1·kg−1 for lactate and 12 μmol·min−1·kg−1 for glucose at rest (Table 2).
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2.
Only 21% of lactate turnover and 3% of glucose turnover were oxidized. Their combined oxidation contributed less than 9% to resting energy production.
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3.
During 10 min dives, there was 9 fold increase in lactate production.
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4.
Less than 27% of the lactate produced during diving was oxidized during recovery.
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5.
The blood glucose concentration decreased 1 mM during diving, but increased and remained elevated for 2 h after the dive (Fig. 5 and 6). The postdive hyperglycemia resulted from a high glucose entry rate which lasted 10–15 min after the dive. A peak entry rate of 168 μmol·min−1·kg−1 was measured 30 sec after a dive.
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6.
In spite of the postdive hyperglycemia, glucose oxidation was only 11% higher than predive levels.
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7.
The predive concentration of plasma free fatty acids (FFA) was similar to other arctic carnivores (Fig. 9).
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Davis, R.W. Lactate and glucose metabolism in the resting and diving harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). J Comp Physiol B 153, 275–288 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00689631
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00689631