Summary
The energetics and hydrodynamics of surface and submerged swimming were compared in the sea otter (Enhydra lutris).
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1.
Sea otters used two distinct speed ranges that varied with swimming mode. Sustained surface swimming was limited to speeds less than 0.80 m/s, while sustained submerged swimming occurred over the range of 0.60 to 1.39 m/s.
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2.
Rates of oxygen consumption (VO2) at the transition speed (0.80 m/s) were 41% lower for submerged swimming by sea otters in comparison to surface swimming.
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3.
Total cost of transport for surface swimming sea otters, 12.56 joules/kg·sm, was more than 12 times the predicted value for a similarly-sized salmonid fish. Transport costs for submerged swimming at the same speed was only 7.33 times the predicted value.
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4.
The allometric relationship for minimum cost of transport in surface swimming birds and mammals wasy=23.87x−0.15 wherey=cost of transport in joules/kg·m andx=body mass in kg. This regression loosely parallels the relationship for salmonid fish.
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5.
Correlations between aquatic behavior, morphological specialization, and swimming energetics indicate that the development of swimming in mustelids involved transitions from fore-paw to hindpaw propulsion, and from surface to submerged swimming.
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Williams, T.M. Swimming by sea otters: adaptations for low energetic cost locomotion. J. Comp. Physiol. 164, 815–824 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00616753
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00616753