Why don't whales get DCI?

[mbacarella]

Whales are mammals that breathe air and can dive 10,000 feet.

This question applies to all undersea creatures, really. How are they so robust and we humans so fragile?

[joystershell]

Whales are not breathing compressed air at depth.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

...and they've found evidence that they can get DCI in instances.

[Cave Diver]

They do:

WHOI : Oceanus : Even Sperm Whales Get the Bends (http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=4720)

Why Do Whales Get the Bends? - ScienceNOW (http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2007/12/14-02.html)

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Whales 'suffer from the bends' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4122119.stm)

[Cave Diver]

Whales are not breathing compressed air at depth.

Compressed air is not necessary. Deep free divers have been known to get DCS.

[tkdgodess]

because they don't have scuba tanks strapped to them. I'm sure if you could rig scuba to a whale, have them breathe a PO2 over 1.6%, have them nar'd on nitrogen, have them exceed tissue saturation for nitrogen to be in deco, then have them ascend holding thier breath that whale could get dci too...

if whales dive beyond thier training....lol

[Tigerman]

As do deepwater fish if you reel them up too fast I guess. So bad a case of it their eyes pop out and stuff :p

[Mike Boswell]

Whales are mammals that breathe air and can dive 10,000 feet. This question applies to all undersea creatures, really. How are they so robust and we humans so fragile?

There is actually a lively and intense debate about his very topic.

At the most primitive level, you have the Dugong, a sloppy, malodorous creature who bumbles indiscriminately through the shallows, clumsily plowing up fetid clouds of rotting detritus. In their own Dugong forum, ABCD regularly castigates them, but XY&Z tries to help them to evolve to a higher form.

In between, you have the carefree baleen whales and porpoises, who mainly stay in shallow, sunlit waters and, often jumping and playing, blithely enjoy the underwater world. They are relatively free to wander, and often they stumble into bays, estuaries, and forums where they are not wanted. In Japan and on Scubaboard, they are often rounded up and slaughtered for meat.

At the top of the heap, you have the mighty sperm whales - forbidding, toothed leviathans that routinely dive deep into the cold black abyss, in well-trained cooperative teams, to feed on the fearsome and malevolent giant squid. Not much is known of them, because they have their own forum with special rules and hoses.

[Hank49]

The question is, why don't they get shallow water blackout?

[Tigerman]

The question is, why don't they get shallow water blackout?
Actually, the real question is "how can I learn to hold my breath as long as them or buy a set of gills" :p

[Hank49]

Actually, the real question is "how can I learn to hold my breath as long as them or buy a set of gills" :p

Yeah, that too. :D
But seriously, if a sperm whale gets into a battle with a giant squid at 2000 feet and stays longer than he wants, barely getting to the surface dropping the pp02 to almost 0, why doesn't the same thing happen? Or maybe it does? Whales wash up on the beach.

[Tigerman]

Yeah, that too. :D
But seriously, if a sperm whale gets into a battle with a giant squid at 2000 feet and stays longer than he wants, barely getting to the surface dropping the pp02 to almost 0, why doesn't the same thing happen? Or maybe it does? Whales wash up on the beach.
I guess thats much of the reason why we dive? Theres so much down there we know so little about and we cant really experience without jumping in the water :D

[mbacarella]

Cool! Thanks!


They do:

WHOI : Oceanus : Even Sperm Whales Get the Bends (http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=4720)

Why Do Whales Get the Bends? - ScienceNOW (http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2007/12/14-02.html)

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Whales 'suffer from the bends' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4122119.stm)