Mondo Knows Facts

A diving seal slows its heart to a few beats a minute

The dive reflex shuts blood away from limbs and directs it to the brain and heart Weddell seals can stay under for over an hour and dive deeper than 500 metres. Muscles work on stored oxygen and produce less lactate. The same reflex appears in people, though far weaker. It sits in Mondo's animals collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

A diving seal slows its heart to a few beats a minute: Seal cape town scuba diving
Tim Sheerman-Chase ยท Public domain ยท source

Where this comes from

NOAA Fisheries

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Tags: seals, diving, physiology

A diving seal slows its heart to a few beats a minute: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
The dive reflex shuts blood away from limbs and directs it to the brain and heart. The figure is taken from NOAA Fisheries, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a animals fact?
Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.