Available online
Description
The programme examines some ways in which marine animals can achieve neutral buoyancy.
The programme examines some ways in which marine animals can achieve neutral buoyancy.
| Module code and title: | S321, Physiology of cells and organisms |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S321; 14; 1976 |
| First transmission date: | 01-09-1976 |
| Published: | 1976 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:28 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Peter Clark |
| Contributors: | Q. Bone; John Gilpin-Brown; Jeff Thomas |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Boyle's Law; Conger eel; Cuttle fish; Marine Biological Association; Plymouth; Swim bladder |
| Footage description: | Film shots of cuttle fish in a tank at the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth. Jeff Thomas introduces the programme. He briefly discusses some of the buoyancy devices of various marine animals. Film shots of cuttle fish. Film shots of John Dory, Mackerel, Dog Fish, and Conger Eel. Quentin Bone with a Conger Eel which has had its swim bladder dissected out. He explains how the swim bladder is used by the fish to change its buoyancy. Bone, using a live fish performs an experiment which shows how a gas bubble and a fish swim bladder react to changes in water pressure. The experiment demonstrates that fish swim bladders obey Boyle's Law. Results are plotted on a graph. Quentin Bone looks at the swim bladder mechanism in detail. Using the dissected conger eel bladder, he points out the constituent parts and explains their function. Film shots of a cuttle fish. John Gilpin Brown takes a cuttle fish out of a tank and points out various features of the animal. He then takes a dead cuttle fish and dissects out the cuttle bone. Film shots of damaged and healthy cuttle fish. Commentary by Gilpin Brown explains how this comparison led him to research the buoyancy mechanism of cuttle fish. Gilpin Brown, in the laboratory, cuts a cuttle bone to examine the inside. His commentary retraces the steps he took in his investigation into the buoyancy of cuttle fish. The experiments are reworked and their results shown on graphs. Jeff Thomas sums up. Credits over shots of cuttle fish. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/72292 |
| Production number: | 00525_1274 |
| Videofinder number: | 1833 |
| Available to public: | no |
