Abstract

The hypothesis that balaenopterids have an auxiliary right heart yielded a plausible explanation for the surprisingly short foraging dives and extremely fast growth rates of blue and fin whales. When the mouth is hydrostatically sealed, a second right heart would be powered by their muscular ventral pouch and the beating of an enormous tail. Opening the mouth to feed then is fairly assumed to bring about a sudden increase in brain PCO₂. That powerful stimulus to breathe would owe to hydrogenation of plasma bicarbonate secondary to reduced hepatic clearance of lactate/H⁺. The primary benefit predicted is reduced incidence of shallow water blackout and drowning as the Δ[H⁺_blood] required would not depend on systemic O₂ depletion. A second benefit would be reduced risk of dysbarism. Increased survivorship would owe to tempering a potentially lethal urge to eat to satiation at depth by accentuation of respiratory drive with each feeding event. Here this hypothesis is tested by predicting the probability distribution of calving intervals in balaenopterids (rorquals) based on observations made by others on balaenids (right and bowhead whales).¹ As the second heart hypothesized could exist only in the former^ψ and would work in series with the thoracic heart, the minimum calving interval predicted for balaenopterids was half the 2-year minimum of balaenids (Table 1). This yielded a principal mode of two years in the probability distribution predicted (Figure 1), as is typical in rorquals.²

^ψfor anatomical reasons.

Table 1

a. Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Sea stock
b. Estimated postmortem by counting peaks in [progesterone] along length of baleen laminae and dividing by number of years of lamellar growth inferred by analysis of stable isotopes
c. Estimated postmortem based on average time frame between probable calving events defined by a decline from peaks in [progesterone] along length of baleen laminae to baseline [progesterone] levels measured along length of same

Figure 1

Predicted probability distribution of true calving intervals in balaenopterids (gray bars) based on that reported in a balaenid, the southern right whale (hatched bars) for its maximum likely 5-year maximum calving interval.^1,4

Thus confirming that balaenopterids have two hearts, my results validate the special theory that natural selection in its most general form works diametrically in opposition to the formal argument codified by the Principle of Least Action,⁸ for it explains balaenopters being heavier than seawater as an adaptation to acquire free energy in the least time. A principal consequence of that adaptation is the diastolic force required for automatic function of their second heart.

One implication of the theory validated is that blue whales suffer an atypically high mortality rate. For this now is to be expected given that the average size of large rorquals inhabiting the Southern Hemisphere is greater than that of conspecifics from the Northern Hemisphere and that the estimated pre-exploitation abundance of blue whales is far less than that of fin whales.^9,10 My results thus underscore the legitimacy of the ban on lethal exploitation of blue whales imposed by the International Whaling Commission.

Errata in Lambertsen (2008)⁸ previously published on the World Wide Web:

On page 5, “angular acceleration” to read “angular velocity”; “intensive purposes” on page 7 to read “intents and purposes”; “0≤γ≥1” in footnote 2 on page 9 to read: “0≤γ≤1”; “prediction of individuals for safety” on page 11 to read “predilection of individuals for safety”; “base intention…” on page 14 to read “base intention [;…]”.

Disclaimer

Elements of this research arose on account of a fellowship awarded to the author by the Committee on the Challenges of Modem Society, Division of Scientific Affairs, North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Views expressed herein are his and do not necessarily represent those of the Committee, NATO member countries, or any other entity.

Acknowledgments

I acknowledge with sincere thanks R. Hintz, F. Gulland, and J. Potvin for comments on drafts of the manuscript; S. Vogel for discussion about hydrodynamics; Ú. Ámason, J. Eisenberg, S. Gould, M. Hildebrand, and E. Mayr for discussion about evolution; A. DuBois, C. Lambertsen, and S. Ridgway for discussion about physiology; P. Best, J. Creek, J. George, W. Koski, C. Lambertsen, and S. Ohsumi for bibliographic assistance; H. Baagøe, O. Grönwall, T. Jauniaux, P. Jenkins, G. Lenglet, K. Loftsson, C. Potter, D. Robineau, M. Rutzmoser, C. Smeenk, K. Soerensen, U. Svensson, J. Wattel, E. Wexelsen, and F. Whitmore for access to specimens; R. Rowland for providing me with her report³ (with N. Lysiak, K. Graham, E. Burgess, K. Hunt, R. Fuller, and R. Hannigan) to the Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, AK, and M. Melguen for inspiration. Funding came in part from grant INT-9024592 from the National Science Foundation of the United States (U.S.–Sweden Cooperative Project).

Literature Cited

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^ϯAccessioned in the U.S. Library of Congress under classification number QH 360.5.L36 2008.