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Marine mammals

An exception to the otherwise well-supported link between animal body size and the sensitivity of its haemoglobin to changes in pH was discovered in 1961. Based on their size and weight, many marine mammals were hypothesized to have a very low, almost negligible Bohr effect. However, when their blood was examined, this was not the case. Humpback whales weighing 41,000 kilograms had an observed Δ log (P 50) Δ pH {\textstyle {\scriptstyle \Delta \log(P_{50}) \over \Delta {\text{pH}}}} value of 0.82, which is roughly equivalent to the Bohr effect magnitude in a 0.57 kg guinea pig. This extremely strong Bohr effect is hypothesized to be one of marine mammals' many adaptations for deep, long dives, as it allows for virtually all of the bound oxygen on haemoglobin to dissociate and supply the whale's body while it is underwater. Examination of other marine mammal species supports this. In pilot whales and porpoises, which are primarily surface feeders and seldom dive for more than a few minutes, the Δ log (P 50) Δ pH {\textstyle {\scriptstyle \Delta \log(P_{50}) \over \Delta {\text{pH}}}} was 0.52, comparable to a cow, which is much closer to the expected Bohr effect magnitude for animals of their size.