do whales and sea turtles do decompression?

[aviator8]

interesting read
Do Whales and Sea Turtles do Decompression? - Shearwater Research

I’d say no because they are breath holders like free divers but I think some research suggest free divers may be susceptible to DCS too.

 

[grf88]

Maybe they should:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267154/#targetText=Decompression sickness (DCS; 'the,well known to human divers.&targetText=We review evidence for gas,gas loading and bubble formation.

 

[EireDiver606]

Free divers are only susceptible to DCS directly after a scuba dive or if it is repeated deep free dives.

 

[Esprise Me]

We discovered that the common fishing practice of throwing turtles pulled up as by-catch back into the water is not a good idea, as the fast ascent in the net is very likely to disturb the turtles diving protocol and give them the bends. Scientists working with us on the film have treated turtles pulled up as by-catch, showing signs and symptoms of DCS. Re-compressed in a hyperbaric chamber, following recompression tables used for humans, the treatments have been a success. From DCS to fully restored health, the Scientists have received, treated and re-released numerous turtles safely back to the ocean, that would otherwise have died.

Holy carp.

 

[ZzzKing]

I hope those turtles had their TAN (Turtle Alert Network) payed up. I can’t imagine that any of them could afford chamber treatments out of pocket.

 

[wnissen]

That's really surprising to me that it's possible. Not that I'm questioning it, but a 100kg person has a volume of roughly 100L and a lung volume of only 6L, so it seems like maybe there wouldn't be enough nitrogen to supersaturate the tissues? Would love to see the actual differential equations that the models use.

 

[Akimbo]

Free divers are only susceptible to DCS directly after a scuba dive or if it is repeated deep free dives.

This is true for recreational freedivers but DCS has been diagnosed on competitive apnea divers, usually after very deep repetitive practice dives in the same day. Many of the world-class freedivers are breathing up on pure oxygen before the dive to reduce nitrogen loading before descent.

 

[EireDiver606]

This is true for recreational freedivers but DCS has been diagnosed on competitive apnea divers, usually after very deep repetitive practice dives in the same day. Many of the world-class freedivers are breathing up on pure oxygen before the dive to reduce nitrogen loading before descent.

I agree that’s why I said “or from repetitive deep free dives”.

Thanks for sharing that competitive free divers use O2 before deep dives. That is very cool and interesting. I never knew that they did that

 

[fsardone]

I agree that’s why I said “or from repetitive deep free dives”.

Thanks for sharing that competitive free divers use O2 before deep dives. That is very cool and interesting. I never knew that they did that

Not related but interesting since it is also a decompression: astronauts before a space walk pre-breathe oxygen for a few hours. This is because they want to keep suit pressurization to a minimum to reduce stiffness and therefore fatigue. This means they would be subjected to DCS. So they desaturate at ambient pressure but lower ppN2.