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Heat loss in air of an Antarctic marine mammal, the Weddell seal

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Abstract

The conflicting needs of homeostasis in air versus water complicate our understanding of thermoregulation in marine mammals. Large-scale modeling efforts directed at predicting the energetic impact of changing sea ice conditions on polar ecosystems require a better understanding of thermoregulation in air of free-ranging animals. We utilized infrared imaging as an indirect approach to determine surface temperatures of dry, hauled-out Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii, n = 35) of varying age and body condition during the Antarctic summer. The study groups provided a fivefold range in body mass and a threefold range in blubber depth. Surface temperature (T s) did not vary by body region (head, shoulder, axilla, torso, hip, flippers). Average seal T s (mean 13.9 ± 11.2 °C) was best described through a combination of the physical traits of body mass and environmental variables of ambient temperature T air, and wind speed. Additional factors of ice temperature (T ice), relative humidity and cloud cover did not improve the model. Heat transfer model estimates suggested that radiation contributed 56.6 ± 7.7 % of total heat loss. Convection and conduction accounted for the remaining 15.7 ± 12.3 and 27.7 ± 9.3 %, respectively. Heat loss by radiation was primarily influenced by body mass and wind speed, whereas convective heat loss was influenced primarily by blubber depth and wind speed. Conductive heat loss was modeled largely as a function of physical traits of mass and blubber depth rather than any environmental covariates, and therefore was substantially higher in animals in leaner condition.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to recognize the field efforts of R. Berngartt, R. Hill, H. Kaiser and M. Monnin, as well as the members of B-009 field team under J. Rotella and R. Garrott at the University of Montana. All work was conducted under Marine Mammal Protection Act 15748 and Antarctic Conservation Act 2012-003. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems (Award 1043779).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    Jo-Ann Mellish

  2. Alaska SeaLife Center, 301 Railway Avenue, PO Box 1329, Seward, AK, 99664-1329, USA

    Jo-Ann Mellish, Allyson Hindle & John Skinner

  3. Anesthesia Center for Critical Care Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Their 503, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Allyson Hindle

  4. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University, 2030 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR, 97365, USA

    Markus Horning

Authors
  1. Jo-Ann Mellish
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  2. Allyson Hindle
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  3. John Skinner
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  4. Markus Horning
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Correspondence to Jo-Ann Mellish.

Additional information

Communicated by H.V. Carey.

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Mellish, JA., Hindle, A., Skinner, J. et al. Heat loss in air of an Antarctic marine mammal, the Weddell seal. J Comp Physiol B 185, 143–152 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-014-0868-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-014-0868-2

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