A blue whale's heart can slow to just two beats a minute during a deep dive, then climb more than tenfold in that same dive after a single feeding lunge. That swing, caught on tape for only the second time in a free-swimming blue whale and the first time ever in a wild humpback, comes from a new tagging study out of Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station.
Researchers led by Ashley Blawas tagged five blue whales and four humpback whales across Monterey Bay, the Channel Islands, and the Western Antarctic Peninsula with suction-cup biologging tags built to record heart rate. The tags attach to a whale's back on a pole as the animal surfaces, no capture and no sedation involved, then record for 12 to 36 hours before releasing themselves and floating to the surface for retrieval.
After a feeding lunge, a blue whale's heart rate climbs to roughly 22 beats per minute, and a humpback's to about 28, staying elevated while the whale pushes water back out through its baleen. Researchers compare the pattern to a human recovering between interval sprints. Blue and humpback whales are rorqual whales already working at the physical limit of what a body this size can do underwater, which leaves little margin: ship noise, ship strikes, and a thinner krill season could all interrupt a heart rate this finely tuned.
Chapters:
1:29 – As Slow as 2 Beats Per Minute During a Dive
2:18 – 5 Blue Whales and 4 Humpbacks, Tagged Across Three Sites
2:40 – Post-Lunge Heart Rate Jumps to Roughly 22 BPM
3:04 – Compared to Human Recovery Between Interval Sprints
3:31 – Ship Noise, Ship Strikes, and Thinner Krill Seasons
Takeaways:
A blue whale's heart rate drops to about 2 beats per minute during a dive and climbs to roughly 22 beats per minute after a feeding lunge; a tagged humpback's rate climbed to about 28.
The study, led by Ashley Blawas at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station, tagged 5 blue whales and 4 humpback whales across Monterey Bay, the Channel Islands, and the Western Antarctic Peninsula.
This is only the second time a free-swimming blue whale's heart rate has been recorded, and the first time for a wild humpback whale.
Suction-cup tags with built-in heart monitors stay attached for 12 to 36 hours before releasing and floating to the surface for retrieval, no capture or sedation needed.
Researchers compare the whales' heart rate recovery pattern to a human athlete recovering between interval sprints.
Blue and humpback whales are already operating at the physical limit of what a body this size can do underwater, leaving little margin against ship noise, ship strikes, and thinner krill seasons.
Andrew interviews Ashley Blawas in an upcoming How to Protect the Ocean podcast episode.
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