Little is known about the dynamics of baleen whale respiratory cycles, especially the mechanics and activity of the blowholes and their interaction with seawater. In this study, the duration of complete respiration cycles (expiration/inhalation events) were quantified for the first time in two species: North Atlantic right whale (NARW) and humpback whale (HW) using high resolution, detailed imagery from an unoccupied aerial system (UAS). The mean duration of complete respiration cycles (expiration/inhalation event) in the NARW and HW were 3.07 s (SD = 0.503, n = 15) and 2.85 s (SD = 0.581, n = 21), respectively. Furthermore, we saw no significant differences in respiration cycle duration between age and sex classes in the NARW, but significant differences were observed between age classes in the HW. The observation of seawater covering an open blowhole was also quantified, with NARW having 20% of all breaths with seawater presence versus 90% in HW. Seawater incursion has not been described previously and challenges the general consensus that water does not enter the respiratory tract in baleen whales. Prevalent seawater has implications for the analysis and interpretation of exhaled respiratory vapor/mucosa samples, as well as for the potential inhalation of oil in spills.

中文翻译：

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通过座头鲸（Megaptera novaeangliae）和北大西洋右鲸（Eubalaena glacialis）鲸的开放气孔的呼吸周期持续时间和海水通量

人们对鲸鱼呼吸循环的动力学知之甚少，尤其是气孔的力学和活动以及它们与海水的相互作用。在这项研究中，首次对两个物种的完整呼吸周期（呼气/吸入事件）的持续时间进行了量化：北大西洋右鲸（NARW）和座头鲸（HW），使用高分辨率，无人空中系统的详细图像（UAS）。NARW和HW中完整呼吸周期（呼气/吸入事件）的平均持续时间分别为3.07 s（SD = 0.503，n = 15）和2.85 s（SD = 0.581，n）= 21）。此外，我们在NARW中没有发现年龄和性别之间的呼吸周期持续时间有显着差异，但是在HW中，在年龄层次之间存在显着差异。还对观察到的覆盖开放气孔的海水进行了量化，NARW在有海水存在的所有呼吸中占20％，而在HW中则为90％。海水入侵以前没有被描述过，它挑战了一般的共识，即水不会进入鲸鱼的呼吸道。盛行的海水对于呼出的呼吸蒸气/粘膜样品的分析和解释以及泄漏物中潜在的油吸入有影响。