LFCabralSub

31/12/2024

18/04/2023

Urros.

15/03/2023

Excited to be en route to Lembeh, home to some of the weirdest critters in the sea. Been 5 year, excited to be returning and looking forward to seeing lots of friends there - both above and below water.

27/08/2022

A blue whale heart can be 5ft tall (1.5m), and weigh over 400 pounds (200kg)!

Compared to the average human heart rate of 60-100 beats per minute, the heart rate of a blue whale can range from 2-10 bpm when submerged to 25 – 37 bpm at the surface. This lower heart rate helps the whale to preserve the oxygen levels in their blood and keep their vital organs functioning.

It takes an extremely powerful muscle to pump 10 tonnes of blood through a huge body at great depths. A slowly contracting aorta (the artery that moves blood to the rest of the body) is what researchers believe is responsible for the blue whale’s heart rate efficiency. Unlike a straightforward open-and-close valve (like us humans), elastic contractions could allow blood to flow between heartbeats. It is an incredibly efficient way to save energy while diving.