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When underwater, the animal is essentially holding its breath and has to routinely return to the surface to breathe in new air. Therefore, all amniote animals, even those that spend more time in water than out, are susceptible to drowning if they cannot reach the surface to breath.
These animals include sessile organisms (e.g. sponges, sea anemones, corals, sea pens, sea lilies and sea squirts, some of which are reef-builders crucial to the biodiversity of marine ecosystems), sedentary filter feeders (e.g. bivalve molluscs) and ambush predators (e.g. flatfishes and bobbit worms, who often burrow or camouflage within the ...
Diving reflex in a human baby. The diving reflex, also known as the diving response and mammalian diving reflex, is a set of physiological responses to immersion that overrides the basic homeostatic reflexes, and is found in all air-breathing vertebrates studied to date.
The physiology of underwater diving is the physiological adaptations to diving of air-breathing vertebrates that have returned to the ocean from terrestrial lineages. They are a diverse group that include sea snakes , sea turtles , the marine iguana , saltwater crocodiles , penguins , pinnipeds , cetaceans , sea otters , manatees and dugongs .
When this internal oxygen supply is depleted, the animal suffers an increasing urge to breathe caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide in the circulation, followed by loss of consciousness due to central nervous system hypoxia. If this occurs underwater, it will drown. Breath-hold diving depth is limited in animals when the volume of rigid walled ...
Fish gills are organs that allow fish to breathe underwater. Most fish exchange gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide using gills that are protected under gill covers (operculum) on both sides of the pharynx (throat). Gills are tissues that are like short threads, protein structures called filaments. These filaments have many functions including ...
A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) A leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine (saltwater) ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), sea otters and polar bears.
Recreational breath-hold divers in basic equipment with floats and catch bags suitable for collecting lobster or shellfish. The ability to dive and swim underwater while holding one's breath is considered a useful emergency skill, an important part of water sport and Navy safety training, and an enjoyable leisure activity. [38]