Stanford researchers report first recording of a blue whale's heart rate (2019) (news.stanford.edu)

by eatonphil 50 comments 84 points
Read article View on HN

50 comments

[−] PaulHoule 64d ago
Note they put a Holter monitor on it

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1914273116

to get an ECG which is one of several strategies they could use. (e.g. lately I've been interested in Heart Rate Variability which has gotten me looking at reading heart rate with cameras, radars, pressure gauges, ultrasound, etc.)

[−] navane 64d ago
30 BPM at the surface, 4 bpm while diving.
[−] trhway 64d ago
and the highest heart rate belongs to the smallest mammal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_shrew

"The Etruscan shrew has a very fast heart beating rate, up to 1511 beats/min (25 beats/s) and a relatively large heart muscle mass, 1.2% of body weight."

(to illustrate - machine guns typically do 600-900 rounds/min)

I wonder whose muscle fiber is stronger per unit mass - the whale's or the shrew's...

[−] raldi 64d ago
Anyone got a direct link to or time index of the recording? I skipped around the video on the linked page but it was all music.
[−] general_reveal 64d ago
It’s interesting Genesis talks of whales before many other things.
[−] krunck 64d ago
A Whale's tachycardia is my bradycardia. Huh.
[−] arunc 64d ago

> Looking at the big picture, the researchers think the whale’s heart is performing near its limits. This may help explain why no animal has ever been larger than a blue whale – because the energy needs of a larger body would outpace what the heart can sustain.

Fascinating to learn such details!