How do dolphins prevent the bends?

This paper (Dive behavior and circulatory adjustments contribute to bends avoidance) is a great study of the various mechanisms mammals use to prevent nitrogen accumulation. It is assumed in general that the ability to collapse their lungs (kind of amazing when you think about it) reduces dolphins and seals accumulation of nitrogen. read more

For a long time, scientists were unsure if marine mammals could get the bends during long and repetitive deep dives – or if they don’t, how they avoided it. We know now that marine mammals typically don’t get the bends, but that they can under certain conditions. Photo by Joyce (headharbourlight) via Flickr, Creative Commons License. read more