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Physiological development in pack ice seals: constraints on diving capacity and behavior? 

Funding: Alaska EPSCoR; Alaska INBRE; UAA Faculty Grants

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Collaborators: Mike Hammill, Dept Fisheries and Oceans Canada 

                    Lars Folkow, University to Tromso, Norway

                    Heather Liwanag, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo                                    Shawn Noren, University of California Santa Cruz

Project Summary:

To understanding the pattern of physiological development in juvenile marine mammals, and how it is regulated my laboratory uses a wide range of techniques and studies a diverse range of species that inhabit polar waters. For example, our studies of physiological development in juveniles have focused on understanding the development of tissue oxygen stores (Hct, Hb, blood volume, muscle Mb content), muscle biochemical and structural properties, and anti-oxidant and thermoregulatory capacities. In combination, these physiological traits strongly influence diving behavior and aerobic exercise capacity.

 

Our lab was one of the first to characterize the pattern of oxygen store development in young divers,  to examine hormonal regulation of hematological development, and to demonstrate that muscle development significantly lags that of other tissues.  In combination, findings demonstrate that juvenile diving behavior is constrained by both aerobic and anaerobic capacity, possibly due to micronutrient limitations on heme development (Burns et al. 2008; Geiseler et al. 2013) and that these limitations persist for several months following the onset of independent foraging (Noren et al. 2015).

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Key Publications from the Research:

  1. Burns, J.M. and Hammill, M.O. 2008. Does iron availability limit oxygen store development in seal pups? pp. 417-428 in: 4th CPB meeting in Africa: MARA 2008, Molecules to Migration: the Pressures of Life, S. Morris, A. Vosloo, Eds. Medimond International Proceedings, Bologna, Italy

  2. Burns, J.M., K.C. Lestyk, M.O. Hammill, L.P. Folkow, and A.S. Blix. 2007. Size and distribution of oxygen stores in harp and hooded seals from birth to maturity. Journal of Comparative Physiology B. 177: 687-700.

  3. Burns, J.M., K.C. Lestyk, N. Skomp, N. Bishop, M.O. Hammill. 2010. Development of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in cardiac and skeletal muscles from harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and hooded (Cystophora cristata) seals. Journal of Experimental Biology 213: 740-748

  4. Geiseler, S., A.S. Blix, J.M. Burns, and L. P. Folkow. 2013. Rapid postnatal development of myoglobin from large liver iron stores in hooded seals. Journal of Experimental Biology 216(Pt 10):1793-8. doi: 10.1242/jeb.082099

  5. Lestyk, K.C., L.P. Folkow, A.S. Blix, M.O. Hammill, J.M. Burns. 2009. Development of myoglobin concentration and acid buffering capacity in harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and hooded (Cystophora cristata) seals from birth to maturity.  Journal of Comparative Physiology  B. 179: 985-996

  6. Noren, S.R., C.V. Jay, J.M. Burns, A.S Fischbach. 2015. Rapid Maturation of the Muscle Biochemistry that Supports Diving in Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). Journal of Experimental Biology 218:3319-29. doi: 10.1242/jeb.125757

  7. Pearson, L.E., H.E.M. Liwanag, M.O. Hammill, J.M. Burns. 2014. Developmental shifts in thermoregulatory strategies in harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus). Journal of Thermal Biology, 44: 93-102.

  8. Pearson, L.E., H.E.M. Liwanag, M.O. Hammill, J.M. Burns. 2014. Thermoregulatory strategy varies among neonatal polar phocids. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A, 178: 59-67 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2014.08.006

  9. Vázquez-Medina, J. P., Olguín-Monroy, N. O., Maldonado, P. D., Santamaría, A., Königsberg, M., Elsner, R., Hammilll, M. O., Burns, J. M. and Zenteno-Savín, T. 2011. Maturation increases superoxide radical production without increasing oxidative damage in the skeletal muscle of hooded seals (Cystophora cristata). Canadian Journal of Zoology 89, 206-212.

  10. Vázquez-Medina, J.P.; J.G. Sonanez-Organis, J. M. Burns, T. Zenteno-Savin, and R. M. Ortiz. 2011. Antioxidant capacity develops with maturation in the deep-diving hooded seal. Journal of Experimental Biology 214: 2903-2910.

Burns Lab / T 806.834.4857 / Site updated July 2024 by Jennifer Burns

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