.... These adaptations produce a high minute volume and enable gas exchange to occur at the surface. Mean oxygen consumption rate ( , measured for a dive+surface cycle) decreased with increasing dive duration. The aerobic dive limit was estimated as 9.6 min for a 150 kg grey seal (using the overall average of 5.2 ml O 2...

... of the normal foraging behaviour. Seals spent 89% of the time submerged during bouts of long dives; swimming was restricted to ascent and descent. Dive durations exceeded estimated aerobic dive limit, even assuming resting metabolic rates. These results indicate that behavioural, and possibly cellular, energy...

... is unimportant during voluntary dives, even when these are of considerable duration. * Present address: Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4J1 Canada. 12 12 1985 © 1986 by Company of Biologists 1986 Xenopus aerobic diving anaerobic diving...