The blue whale heart has reached its physiological limits

, Nov. 25 (Reporter Liu Haiying) Blue whales are the largest animals on our planet, they swim in the vast ocean, elegant and mysterious. Scientists hope to learn more about the blue whale to better protect the rare species. For the first time ever, a U.S. team of researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they recorded the heart rate of blue whales and found that the blue whale's heart rate changed much more widely than previously expected, and that its heart was at physiological limits.
team is made up of researchers from Stanford University, the University of California, San Diego and others. Although researchers measured the heart rate of emperor penguins in McMurdo Bay, Antarctica, 10 years ago, it was the first time a blue whale had been measured, and it was not easy to find a blue whale that was swimming in the sea, put a sensing device in the right place for its huge body, and make sure the instrument was working properly to record data. Try to add luck, the research team succeeded!
data show that the heart rate of blue whales changes dramatically. When a blue whale dives into the deep sea, its heart rate is extremely low, beating an average of 4-8 beats per minute, with a minimum of only two jumps per minute;
data, whether the highest or lowest heart rate, far exceeded scientists' expectations. Researchers believe that the blue whale's heart is already at its limits, which is one reason why it hasn't evolved so much, because the larger body needs more energy than its heart can bear.
researchers are now looking for ways to add more functionality to sensing devices to better understand the effects of different activities on the heart rate of blue whales, and hope to extend the study to other members of the whale family, such as big fin whales, humpback whales and small beads. They say the research has deepened scientists' understanding of marine biology and could have a significant impact on the conservation and management of endangered species such as blue whales.