Functional anatomy of the heart of the harbor porpoise, Phocaena phocaena.

Thirty-six harbor porpoises, Phocaena phocaena, were caught off the coast of Southern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia as part of a study of the biology and ecology of these animals. The formalin-preserved heart was examined first in situ, then measured and studied in detail. If the weight of the thick layer of blubber is discounted, the heart is heavy relative to the total body weight as may be expected in an animal capable of fast swimming, great agility and frequent emergence from the water to breathe. The shape of the heart, the relative size of atria and atrial appendages, the morphology of the ventricular septum, the thickness of the walls of the sinus and conus of the right ventricle and the anatomy of the pulmonary veins were found to be constant for this animal and unlike that of non-cetaceans. It is suggested that the absence of respiratory movements during diving may lead to these modifications of cardiac structure in an animal that is particularly well adapted to a totally aquatic existence.