The problems encountered by diving birds and mammals and the methods used to overcome them

The underwater environment poses multiple problems to animals that have evolved to live at the surface which need to be overcome if the animal is to utilise the marine setting as a habitat and foraging environment. These problems are associated with the inability of the terrestrial respiratory surface to extract oxygen from water and thus the resulting hypoxic conditions, and the increasing degree of pressure resulting from the overlying column of water, the effects of …

…that seal pups dive less frequently and to a lesser depth than their adult counterparts and allometry has traditionally been invoked to explain this. However, it is also plausible that the increased ability of adults compared with juveniles is attributable to the increased amount of time spent in dive apnea. More research into the effects of training and learning and their contribution relative to that of intrinsic capability is needed to assess this aspect properly