Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

On the Dynamics of the Aerosol Plume in Common Bottlenose Dolphin Respiratory Events

Metadata Updated: February 15, 2025

This study examines the trajectories, size, and spatial distribution of aerosols during breathing events of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Accounting for the terminal velocity of small droplets, the trajectories are used for estimating the volumes and flow rates of the exhaled and inhaled air. Data area acquired by training two male and four female dolphins to breathe at the side of the pool within the field-of- view of a high-speed holography system. Droplet-tracking and size measurements are performed for twenty-six datasets involving normal, chuff, and post-exercise breaths, some repeated to assess repeatability. The exhaled liquid originates either from the respiratory system or from the water trapped above the blowhole. The 150-400 ms exhalations have multiple velocity peaks, with the maximum air speed occurring during the first peak for post-exercise breaths. The droplet concentrations and sizes peak at the time of maximum velocity and then gradually decrease. The exhaled liquid volumes vary from 0.1 to 16 mL, peaking for post-exercise breaths. About 0.5% of the exhaled aerosol travels 3-5 times faster than the surrounding air and droplets, presumably due to ejection from deep within the respiratory tract. A fraction of the airborne liquid (0.2-0.5 mL) is subsequently inhaled during the more than 600 ms long inhalation phase, characterized by low speeds and small (150-1000 ¼m) droplets. The exhaled and inhaled tidal volumes and air flow rates estimated from the trajectories are consistent with prior measurements of dolphins in the wild and other facilities

Access & Use Information

License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Date September 6, 2024
Metadata Created Date February 15, 2025
Metadata Updated Date February 15, 2025
Reference Date(s) 2024 (creation), 2024 (publication)
Frequency Of Update notPlanned

Metadata Source

Harvested from NOS ORR

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Nongeographicdataset
Metadata Date September 6, 2024
Metadata Created Date February 15, 2025
Metadata Updated Date February 15, 2025
Reference Date(s) 2024 (creation), 2024 (publication)
Responsible Party Office of Response and Restoration (Custodian)
Contact Email
Guid gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:73366
Access Constraints Cite As: Office of Response and Restoration, [Date of Access]: On the Dynamics of the Aerosol Plume in Common Bottlenose Dolphin Respiratory Events [Data Date Range], https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/73366., Access Constraints: None
Coupled Resource
Frequency Of Update notPlanned
Harvest Object Id 594cad88-a794-4c66-b667-ca93fb210204
Harvest Source Id 16d8de29-951c-4a91-bada-75c7593e9406
Harvest Source Title NOS ORR
Licence NOAA provides no warranty, nor accepts any liability occurring from any incomplete, incorrect, or misleading data, or from any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading use of the data. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether or not the data is suitable for the intended purpose.
Lineage The experiments were performed at the National Aquarium in Baltimore by training four female and two male bottlenose dolphins to swim just under the field-of-view of a high-speed holography system and offer, on cue, three different breath types: normal, chuff (forced exhale) and post-exercise.
Metadata Language eng
Metadata Type geospatial
Progress completed
Spatial Data Service Type
Spatial Reference System
Spatial Harvester True

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.