In order to examine myoglobin (Mb) function and metabolic responses of seal muscle during progressive ischemia and hypoxemia, Mb saturation and high-energy phosphate levels were monitored with NMR spectroscopy during sleep apnea in elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris). Muscle blood flow (MBF) was measured with laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF). During six, spontaneous, 8-12 min apneas of an unrestrained juvenile seal, apneic MBF decreased to 46+/-10% of the mean eupneic MBF. By the end of apnea, MBF reached 31+/-8% of the eupneic value. The t(1/2) for 90% decline in apneic MBF was 1.9+/-1.2 min. The initial post-apneic peak in MBF occurred within 0.20+/-0.04 min after the start of eupnea. NMR measurements revealed that Mb desaturated rapidly from its eupenic resting level to a lower steady state value within 4 min after the onset of apnea at rates between 1.7+/-1.0 and 3.8+/-1.5% min(-1), which corresponded to a muscle O(2) depletion rate of 1-2.3 ml O(2) kg(-1) min(-1). High-energy phosphate levels did not change with apnea. During the transition from apnea to eupnea, Mb resaturated to 95% of its resting level within the first minute. Despite the high Mb concentration in seal muscle, experiments detected Mb diffusing with a translational diffusion coefficient of 4.5 x 10(-7) cm(2) s(-1), consistent with the value observed in rat myocardium. Equipoise P(O(2)) analysis revealed that Mb is the predominant intracellular O(2) transporter in elephant seals during eupnea and apnea.