Lowell Lecture
Diving Deep: How Do Seals Protect Their Hearts and Brains Without Oxygen?
Date & Time
May 16, 2017 at 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Location
New England Aquarium
1 Central Wharf Boston, MA 02110
Driving Directions
Speaker(s)
Allyson Hindle, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesia, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and Manu Buys, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Anesthesia and Ophthalmology, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Presenting Organization
Topics
Contact
Maggie See (aquariumlectures@neaq.org, 617-973-6596)
Seals dive deep into the ocean to hunt while at the same time holding their breath. To do this, their physiology is highly specialized compared to other mammals; the hearts and brains of seals are protected from hypoxic injury that would be detrimental to terrestrial species, including humans. To learn about some of the most extreme, deepest diving seals in the world, a research team travelled to McMurdo Station, Antarctica and tracked down the southernmost mammal on the planet. Join Drs. Allyson Hindle and Manu Buys from Massachusetts General Hospital in discovering what Weddell seals can teach us about new possibilities to treat heart attack and stroke, as well as their own physiological limits in a changing habitat. Science artist Maris Wicks will be a special guest.