Blood rheology of captive and free-ranging northern elephant seals and sea otters

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Abstract
Hematologic and rheologie characteristics of blood from captive and free-ranging sea otters, Enhydra lutris, and northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, were studied to evaluate short- and long-term responses to captivity. Red blood cell counts, white blood cell counts, hemoglobin concentrations, hematocrits, total plasma proteins, and mean corpuscular volume measurements were made on anticoagulated venous blood samples. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations were calculated. Viscosity measurements were made at shear rates from 11.5 to 230.4 s−1 on a Wells–Brookfield cone-plate viscometer. A capillary viscometer (radius, 500 μm) provided additional viscometric measurements. Comparisons of hematologic and rheologic data revealed only minor differences between captive and free-ranging seals and sea otters. Although hematologic variables were within the ranges reported in earlier wild vs. captive studies of these species, no evidence of short- (3 weeks) or long-term (> 6 months) acclimatization to captive exposure was found in the hemorheology of these marine mammals.

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