Post by LSDeep on Mar 14, 2005 9:05:39 GMT -5
For years the general consensus has been that nonhuman air-breathing mammals are immune to decompression sickness or the bends. In a recent article in "Science," Michael J. Moore and Greg A. Early of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution present evidence that whales can indeed get bent. While examining the skeleton of a sperm whale, they found pits and erosion that are classic evidence of the bends.
This observation was followed up by a survey of 16 other sperm whale skeletons collected over the past 111 years. Moore and Early came to the conclusion that sperm whales are probably neither anatomically nor physiologically immune to the effects of deep diving. It is also possible that other air-breathing animals are at risk of getting the bends when surfacing rapidly.
This observation was followed up by a survey of 16 other sperm whale skeletons collected over the past 111 years. Moore and Early came to the conclusion that sperm whales are probably neither anatomically nor physiologically immune to the effects of deep diving. It is also possible that other air-breathing animals are at risk of getting the bends when surfacing rapidly.