DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6q573n60x
title: Data from: Dynamic body acceleration as a proxy to predict the cost of locomotion in bottlenose dolphins

description: Estimates of the energetic costs of locomotion (COL) at different activity
 levels are necessary to answer fundamental eco-physiological questions and
 to understand the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance to marine mammals.
 We combined estimates of energetic costs derived from breath-by-breath
 respirometry with measurements of overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA)
 from biologging tags to validate ODBA as a proxy for COL in trained common
 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). We measured resting metabolic
 rate (RMR); mean individual RMR was 0.71–1.42 times that of a similarly
 sized terrestrial mammal and agreed with past measurements that used
 breath-by-breath and flow-through respirometry. We also measured energy
 expenditure during submerged swim trials, at primarily moderate exercise
 levels. We subtracted RMR to obtain COL, and normalized COL by body size
 to incorporate individual swimming efficiencies. We found both
 mass-specific energy expenditure and mass-specific COL were linearly
 related with ODBA. Measurements of activity level and cost of transport
 (the energy required to move a given distance) improve understanding of
 the COL in marine mammals. The strength of the correlation between ODBA
 and COL varied among individuals, but the overall relationship can be used
 at a broad scale to estimate the energetic costs of disturbance and daily
 locomotion costs to build energy budgets, and investigate the costs of
 diving in free-ranging animals where bio-logging data are available. We
 propose that a similar approach could be applied to other cetacean
 species.
description: These data were generated to investigate the energetic cost of
 locomotion in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). We
 quantified energy expenditure (i.e., metabolic rate) by measuring oxygen
 consumption via a pneumotachometer (a breath-by-breath respirometry
 device). The dolphins breathed into the pneumotachometer while at station
 (stationary next to the side of the lagoon). We integrated flow rate
 (milliliters per second) and oxygen concentration (%) to obtain oxygen
 consumption rate. We measured resting metabolic rate (RMR) for several
 minutes before a swim trial. We then asked the dolphins to swim multiple
 laps, breathing into the pneumotachometer several times at station in
 between each lap. The dolphins were post-prandial (i.e., no food consumed
 for &gt; 12 hrs) during all measurements.  The
 dolphins also wore a suction-cup-attached tag (which included a
 trial-axial accelerometer), placed dorsally mid-way between the blowhole
 and the dorsal fin. We calculated mean overall dynamic body acceleration
 (ODBA) from the accelerometer signals. ODBA gave us a proxy for how active
 the dolphins were during a trial, to compare with energy expenditure
 measured via respirometry.
description: Please refer to the README file, and to the manuscript Allen et
 al., (2022), Dynamic body acceleration as a proxy to predict the cost of
 locomotion in bottlenose dolphins, The Journal of Experimental
 Biology.