Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

My research program on integrative biomechanics addresses the general question of how organisms deal with physical challenges at the level of systems and structures. I propose to continue efforts in biomechanics of locomotor systems in fishes and study the biomechanical basis of swimming, feeding and diving in whales. We will complete studies on biomechanics of fast continuous swimming in fishes to discover how muscle and skeletal systems perform in different swimming regimes, particularly maximal effort. We will study thrust production by hydrofoil lunate tails, a convergent feature of high performance fishes and whales. We will use new techniques to fabricate life-like tail models where size, shape and material properties are controlled, and direct force measurements made under simulated swimming. We will also expand a new research direction on biomechanics of baleen whales, particularly adaptations for engulfment feeding and diving. We will consider the scale of water engulfment, resulting energy cost and benefit, effects of size on feeding mechanics and feeding strategy, and how such large-scale feeding behaviour may have allowed or set limits to the evolution of the largest animals on earth. We will integrate diving data, mathematical modeling of the engulfment process across a range of body sizes, and computational fluid dynamics and flow measurements on models of whale bodies and fins. The anatomical specializations for diving and engulfment feeding in the great whales are not well studied. We will investigate mechanical properties of jaws in order to understand how these bones meet the unique physical requirements for the extreme mode of feeding. Bone stiffness and mineral density will be correlated by direct measurements. With a new method to integrate mechanical properties with cross sectional shape and density along the bone we will create digital finite element models that allow virtual load testing of whole jaws of any size. We will also explore special features of the whale arterial system that are likely important for survival during deep diving. New experiments on the structure and mechanical behaviour of lungs and airways will be broadened to compare differences among whales related to dive depth.