Freedivers beat seals during deep dives
- 3 years ago
Elite freedivers who dive unaided in open sea, have brain oxygen levels even lower than seals during their deepest dives, new research at the University of St Andrews has found.
The divers, who reached depths of 107 metres, had brain oxygen levels that would be expected to normally induce unconsciousness and had heart rates as low as those of seals, whales and dolphins while in the water.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0349
The new findings, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B today (Monday 28 June 2021), are helping scientists understand the physiology of marine mammals and could help find new ways to treat human cardiac patients as well as increase the safety of freedivers.
The divers, who reached depths of 107 metres, had brain oxygen levels that would be expected to normally induce unconsciousness and had heart rates as low as those of seals, whales and dolphins while in the water.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0349
The new findings, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B today (Monday 28 June 2021), are helping scientists understand the physiology of marine mammals and could help find new ways to treat human cardiac patients as well as increase the safety of freedivers.