Carbon monoxide means life for elephant seals

By Kim Tong-hyung

When humans think of carbon monoxide, they think of air pollution, cigarette smoke and ultimately death. Elephant seals, on the other hand, would have an entirely different opinion.

A new study published by a team of researchers led by Michael Tift of the University of California, San Diego, found that elephant seals have surprisingly high levels of naturally produced carbon monoxide in their blood.

The amount of carbon monoxide found in the blood of these animals is comparable to the level found in people who smoke at least 40 cigarettes each day, according to the study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

So why is the seals’ blood level of carbon monoxide so high? Tift suggests that the high levels of the gas in their blood protect the animals from injury when they dive deep into waters in search of food.

Tift also suspects that the seals’ high carbon monoxide level protests them from oxidative damage incurred when blood rushes back into peripheral tissues after they hold their breath in the natural dive response.