Pinnipeds Vs Penguins

Your subtopic, assigned to Paper Group 7, is “Adaptations in diving marine animals: cetaceans, pinnipeds, and penguins.” Birds and mammals have relatively high metabolic processes and require constant access to high quantities of oxygen for survival. If the brains of these animals are deprived of oxygen for even short periods of time, death may occur. Even though most humans can only hold their breaths for less than a minute, some marine air breathers have evolved strategies that allow them to stay submerged from exceptionally long periods of time (30 minutes in penguins and 1-1.5 hours in diving marine mammals). In your paper you should examine both marine mammals and marine birds and describe the adaptations that allow for prolonged submergence. Then end with a section that compares and contrasts the strategies used between the two groups.
Cetatceans:Whales
Pinnipeds: Seals
Penguins …show more content…
Many marine animals have quite extraordinary abilities to dive for long periods of time. Some penguins are able to diver for periods of time up to 18 minutes long, some sperm whales can dive for periods of time up to 90 minutes, and some elephant seals can dive for periods of time up to two hours. Diving mammals and birds have the ability to hold their breath and make dives for very long periods of time. Many mammals, like humans, can only hold their breath for a very short period of time, approximately a minute. What adaptations allow these animals to survive for this long without surfacing for