Elephant Seal’s Nose Minimizes the Amount of Body Water Lost Through Breathing

Function

An Elephant seal’s nose is designed to minimize the amount of body water lost from breathing. The tissue in the seal’s large nose contains a large amount of water, and its nasal passage is covered in mucus. The animal’s inhalations are warmed as they pass through the nasal passage, while the surface of the passage itself is cooled on account of evaporation. The temperature of the exhalations is also lowered as they pass through the cooled nasal passages, causing the water vapor from the warm exhalations to remain in the nasal passages. In this way, these seals prevent water loss from breathing.

Functional Classification

Resouce/Energy/Information Collection & Storage:
Water recovery

Environmental Solution Classification

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Technical Application

Products and Services

Type of Business

Proposals of Applied Technology

This seal’s ability to prevent water loss can be used to design new air-conditioning and heating equipment, machines that recycle water from air conditioners, dehumidifiers, as well as systems that can collect water from air with high humidity, or smoke from chimneys and exhaust ports.

Proposals of Applied Industry

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