Whale Dive Physiology Simulator

Species

Dive Setup

Target depth 1000 m

Dive response (bradycardia)

Select a species and start a dive.

Live Physiology

O₂ store: 100%— L

Depth

0 m

Heart rate

— bpm

Dive time

0.0 min

Aerobic dive limit

— min

Metabolic state

Surface

How it works

Breath-hold divers carry oxygen in three compartments and spend it down over the dive:

O2_total = O2_lung + O2_blood + O2_muscle(myoglobin)

Fick principle (simplified):
  VO2(t) ≈ k · HR(t)      [SV, arteriovenous O2 diff ≈ const]

Aerobic Dive Limit:
  ADL = O2_usable / DMR_dive

dO2/dt = −VO2(t)

At the start of a dive the mammalian dive response kicks in within seconds: heart rate drops sharply (bradycardia) and blood is shunted away from non-essential tissue toward the heart and brain (peripheral vasoconstriction). Because oxygen consumption tracks heart rate, this reflex is what lets a diving mammal stretch a fixed oxygen store across tens of minutes instead of a few.

Species buttons — swap body mass, resting/diving heart rate, total O2 store and Aerobic Dive Limit (ADL) between a Weddell seal, a sperm whale and a Cuvier's beaked whale (the deepest, longest breath-hold diver known).
Target depth — how deep the animal descends before turning to forage.
Dive response toggle — switch bradycardia off to see what happens if heart rate (and therefore O2 use) stayed at active surface levels for the whole dive: the store runs out far short of the ADL.
Metabolic state — Aerobic while O2 use stays inside the ADL; Anaerobic once dive time exceeds it (lactate now accumulating, as in real over-length dives); Blackout if the store hits zero before surfacing.

Simulated clock: 1 real second ≈ 1 minute of dive time, so a full-length dive plays out in tens of seconds rather than tens of minutes.

Descent / ascent path Marine snow (drift)

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