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Science 24 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5705, p. 2215
DOI: 10.1126/science.1105452
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Brevia

Cumulative Sperm Whale Bone Damage and the Bends

Michael J. Moore* and Greg A. Early

Diving mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and humans develop dysbaric osteonecrosis from end-artery nitrogen embolism ("the bends") in certain bones. Sixteen sperm whales from calves to large adults showed a size-related development of osteonecrosis in chevron and rib bone articulations, deltoid crests, and nasal bones. Occurrence in animals from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans over 111 years made a pathophysiological diagnosis of dysbarism most likely. Decompression avoidance therefore may constrain diving behavior. This suggests why some deep-diving mammals show periodic shallow-depth activity and why gas emboli are found in animals driven to surface precipitously by acoustic stressors such as mid-frequency sonar systems.

Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mmoore{at}whoi.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Gas Bubbles in Seals, Dolphins, and Porpoises Entangled and Drowned at Depth in Gillnets.
M. J. Moore, A. L. Bogomolni, S. E. Dennison, G. Early, M. M. Garner, B. A. Hayward, B. J. Lentell, and D. S. Rotstein (2009)
Vet. Pathol. 46, 536-547
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Thermal and digestive constraints to foraging behaviour in marine mammals.
D. A.S Rosen, A. J Winship, and L. A Hoopes (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 2151-2168
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Acute and Chronic Gas Bubble Lesions in Cetaceans Stranded in the United Kingdom.
P. D. Jepson, R. Deaville, I. A. P. Patterson, A. M. Pocknell, H. M. Ross, J. R. Baker, F. E. Howie, R. J. Reid, A. Colloff, and A. A. Cunningham (2005)
Vet. Pathol. 42, 291-305
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A WHALE OF A CASE OF THE BENDS....
S. Milton (2005)
J. Exp. Biol. 208, v
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