Oxygen mystery: How marine mammals hold their breath

Scientists say they have solved the mystery of one of the most extreme adaptations in the animal kingdom: how marine mammals store enough oxygen to hold their breath for up to an hour. The secret, Dr Berenbrink explained, was a subtle but crucial piece of chemical trickery; marine mammal myoglobin is positively charged. This has important physical consequences. Dr Berenbrink explained: “Like the similar poles of a magnet; the proteins repel one another.“ “In this way we think the animals are able to pack really high concentrations of these proteins into their muscles and avoid them sticking together and clogging up the muscles.“..................