Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access originally published online on May 6, 2008
Integrative and Comparative Biology 2008 48(6):788-800; doi:10.1093/icb/icn029
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Hydrodynamic flow control in marine mammals
*Department of Biology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, USA; Mechanical Engineering and Material Science Department and Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0300, USA; Mechanical Engineering Department, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA
Correspondence: 1E-mail: ffish{at}wcupa.edu
The ability to control the flow of water around the body dictates the performance of marine mammals in the aquatic environment. Morphological specializations of marine mammals afford mechanisms for passive flow control. Aside from the design of the body, which minimizes drag, the morphology of the appendages provides hydrodynamic advantages with respect to drag, lift, thrust, and stall. The flukes of cetaceans and sirenians and flippers of pinnipeds possess geometries with flexibility, which enhance thrust production for high efficiency swimming. The pectoral flippers provide hydrodynamic lift for maneuvering. The design of the flippers is constrained by performance associated with stall. Delay of stall can be accomplished passively by modification of the flipper leading edge. Such a design is exhibited by the leading edge tubercles on the flippers of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). These novel morphological structures induce a spanwise flow field of separated vortices alternating with regions of accelerated flow. The coupled flow regions maintain areas of attached flow and delay stall to high angles of attack. The delay of stall permits enhanced turning performance with respect to both agility and maneuverability. The morphological features of marine mammals for flow control can be utilized in the biomimetic design of engineered structures for increased power production and increased efficiency.
From the symposium "Going with the Flow: Ecomorphological Variation across Aquatic Flow Regimes" presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 2–6, 2008, at San Antonio, Texas.