Respiration rates and inferred mass-specific field metabolic rates decline with body size among five sympatric cetaceans.

ABSTRACT: Metabolic rates in animals scale allometrically with body mass, a relationship well-established in terrestrial mammals. Whether these scaling laws apply to fully aquatic mammals remains uncertain, due to key physiological and ecological differences. We estimated field metabolic rates (FMRs) for five sympatric cetaceans of varying sizes, inhabiting sub-Arctic Icelandic waters: harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena; mean body length ± s.d = 1.35 ± 0.19 m), white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris; 2.42 ± 0.17 m), minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata; 7.53 ±  0.82 m), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae; 9.44 ± 1.13 m) and blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus; 21.97 ± 0.96 m). Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry and published data were used to estimate body size, whil

SUBMITTER: Glarou M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12743071 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature