Body Flexibility Enhances Maneuverability in the World's Largest Predator.

Autor:	Segre PS; Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, 120 Ocean View Blvd, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, United States., Cade DE; Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, 120 Ocean View Blvd, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, United States., Calambokidis J; Cascadia Research Collective, 218 1/2 4th Avenue W, Olympia, WA 98501, USA., Fish FE; West Chester University, 750 South Church Street, West Chester, PA 19383, USA., Friedlaender AS; University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA., Potvin J; Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO 63103, USA., Goldbogen JA; Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, 120 Ocean View Blvd, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, United States.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Integrative and comparative biology [Integr Comp Biol] 2019 Jul 01; Vol. 59 (1), pp. 48-60.
DOI:	10.1093/icb/icy121
Abstrakt:	Blue whales are often characterized as highly stable, open-ocean swimmers who sacrifice maneuverability for long-distance cruising performance. However, recent studies have revealed that blue whales actually exhibit surprisingly complex underwater behaviors, yet little is known about the performance and control of these maneuvers. Here, we use multi-sensor biologgers equipped with cameras to quantify the locomotor dynamics and the movement of the control surfaces used by foraging blue whales. Our results revealed that simple maneuvers (rolls, turns, and pitch changes) are performed using distinct combinations of control and power provided by the flippers, the flukes, and bending of the body, while complex trajectories are structured by combining sequences of simple maneuvers. Furthermore, blue whales improve their turning performance by using complex banked turns to take advantage of their substantial dorso-ventral flexibility. These results illustrate the important role body flexibility plays in enhancing control and performance of maneuvers, even in the largest of animals. The use of the body to supplement the performance of the hydrodynamically active surfaces may represent a new mechanism in the control of aquatic locomotion. (© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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