Visual deprivation induces a stronger dive response in a harbor porpoise

Ciska Bakkeren; Michael Ladegaard; Kirstin Anderson Hansen; Magnus Wahlberg; Peter Teglberg Madsen; Laia Rojano-Doñate

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106204

Visual deprivation induces a stronger dive response in a harbor porpoise

Ciska Bakkeren, Michael Ladegaard, Kirstin Anderson Hansen, Magnus Wahlberg, Peter Teglberg Madsen^*, Laia Rojano-Doñate

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Biology - Zoophysiology

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The dive response allows marine mammals to perform prolonged breath-hold dives to access rich marine prey resources. Via dynamic adjustments of peripheral vasoconstriction and bradycardia, oxygen consumption can be tailored to breath-hold duration, depth, exercise, and even expectations during dives. By investigating the heart rate of a trained harbor porpoise during a two-alternative forced choice task, where the animal is either acoustically masked or blindfolded, we test the hypothesis that sensory deprivation will lead to a stronger dive response to conserve oxygen when facing a more uncertain and smaller sensory umwelt. We show that the porpoise halves its diving heart rate (from 55 to 25 bpm) when blindfolded but presents no change in heart rate during masking of its echolocation. Therefore, visual stimuli may matter more to echolocating toothed whales than previously assumed, and sensory deprivation can be a major driver of the dive response, possibly as an anti-predator measure.

Original language	English
Article number	106204
Journal	iScience
Volume	26
Issue	3
Number of pages	13
ISSN	2589-0042
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106204
Publication status	Published - Mar 2023

Keywords

Animal physiology
Biological sciences
Physiology
Zoology

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10.1016/j.isci.2023.106204Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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title = "Visual deprivation induces a stronger dive response in a harbor porpoise",

abstract = "The dive response allows marine mammals to perform prolonged breath-hold dives to access rich marine prey resources. Via dynamic adjustments of peripheral vasoconstriction and bradycardia, oxygen consumption can be tailored to breath-hold duration, depth, exercise, and even expectations during dives. By investigating the heart rate of a trained harbor porpoise during a two-alternative forced choice task, where the animal is either acoustically masked or blindfolded, we test the hypothesis that sensory deprivation will lead to a stronger dive response to conserve oxygen when facing a more uncertain and smaller sensory umwelt. We show that the porpoise halves its diving heart rate (from 55 to 25 bpm) when blindfolded but presents no change in heart rate during masking of its echolocation. Therefore, visual stimuli may matter more to echolocating toothed whales than previously assumed, and sensory deprivation can be a major driver of the dive response, possibly as an anti-predator measure.",

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AU - Ladegaard, Michael

AU - Hansen, Kirstin Anderson

AU - Wahlberg, Magnus

AU - Madsen, Peter Teglberg

AU - Rojano-Doñate, Laia

PY - 2023/3

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N2 - The dive response allows marine mammals to perform prolonged breath-hold dives to access rich marine prey resources. Via dynamic adjustments of peripheral vasoconstriction and bradycardia, oxygen consumption can be tailored to breath-hold duration, depth, exercise, and even expectations during dives. By investigating the heart rate of a trained harbor porpoise during a two-alternative forced choice task, where the animal is either acoustically masked or blindfolded, we test the hypothesis that sensory deprivation will lead to a stronger dive response to conserve oxygen when facing a more uncertain and smaller sensory umwelt. We show that the porpoise halves its diving heart rate (from 55 to 25 bpm) when blindfolded but presents no change in heart rate during masking of its echolocation. Therefore, visual stimuli may matter more to echolocating toothed whales than previously assumed, and sensory deprivation can be a major driver of the dive response, possibly as an anti-predator measure.

AB - The dive response allows marine mammals to perform prolonged breath-hold dives to access rich marine prey resources. Via dynamic adjustments of peripheral vasoconstriction and bradycardia, oxygen consumption can be tailored to breath-hold duration, depth, exercise, and even expectations during dives. By investigating the heart rate of a trained harbor porpoise during a two-alternative forced choice task, where the animal is either acoustically masked or blindfolded, we test the hypothesis that sensory deprivation will lead to a stronger dive response to conserve oxygen when facing a more uncertain and smaller sensory umwelt. We show that the porpoise halves its diving heart rate (from 55 to 25 bpm) when blindfolded but presents no change in heart rate during masking of its echolocation. Therefore, visual stimuli may matter more to echolocating toothed whales than previously assumed, and sensory deprivation can be a major driver of the dive response, possibly as an anti-predator measure.

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KW - Physiology

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Visual deprivation induces a stronger dive response in a harbor porpoise

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Keywords

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