How do deep diving aquatic animals avoid getting “the bends”?

krzys44

After deep diving sea snakes "dive again quickly after drawing air, so that nitrogen does not have enough time to form gas bubbles in the blood. They also excrete a part of the nitrogen from their skin. There is also a remarkable channelling of blood around the lungs: as much as 75% of the blood is pumped from the heart into the pulmonary artery that does not go through the lungs." http://www.tropicalleather.com/Seasnake-p-5.html The sperm whale is "avoiding the ‘bends’ with the aid of specialised respiratory and circulatory mechanisms that ensure that there is no air in the blood when the whale is at a depth." http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010617/spectrum/nature.htm Dec 01 08, 7:39 AM

zbeckabee

While most tales of exploding seafood are anecdotal, a small number of studies have shown that fish and other marine life can also suffer from the bends. Biological specimens from the deep ocean have to be brought up slowly (like a diver) or kept pressurized or the drastic change could cause internal bleeding or burst swim bladder. Even catch and release fishermen should be warned. In small-mouth bass, removal from a depth as shallow as 5 metres has caused gas bubble formation and signs of tissue damage, and the survivability of these fish after 'the bends' isn't known. http://bayblab.blogspot.com/2007/07/do-fish-get-bends.html Dec 01 08, 7:40 AM

author

The scientific word for "the bends" is Decompression sickness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression_sickness Dec 01 08, 4:12 PM