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Notes
- Abstract:
- Marine mammals in captivity provide an opportunity to collect metabolic data and calculate aerobic dive limits (ADL) on species and sexes where limited data from wild populations are available. These data can have a significant impact on the husbandry of the animals being studied and can considerably increase our understanding of their diving abilities. Through the use of male South American sea lions in captivity at Coral World Ocean Park in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and estimations based on literature, the metabolic rate and ADL were determined for the species. The metabolic rate was determined through repeated oxygen consumption measurements. Total oxygen stores were calculated using hemoglobin concentration and estimates of lung volume, blood volume, myoglobin concentration and muscle mass from the literature. The ADL was then determined by dividing the estimated total oxygen stores by the oxygen consumption rate.
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