Metabolic consequences of diving in the Weddell seal (Leptoychotes weddelli)

To achieve a greater understanding of metabolic efficiency during diving, it is important to establish the degree of metabolic suppression (reduction of oxygen consumption) at the cellular level, and then investigate the mechanism by which it is regulated. Seven Weddell seals from the Hutton Cliffs colony were sampled with biopsies obtained from the pectoralis (non-locomotory) and longissimus dorsi (locomotory) muscles and the mitochondrial respiration was measured in each tissue at 25°C and 37°C. Uncoupling proteins, implicated as a possible mechanism for metabolic control at the cellular level, were investigated on fixed and frozen muscle tissue.