What whales look like when they sleep, how whales sleep

When whales sleep, they always gather together, with their heads facing inwards and their tails facing outwards, floating in a circle on the surface of the sea and spreading out as soon as there is movement.

Marine mammals such as whales and dolphins live in the ocean throughout their lives. They have two basic ways to sleep: either the body stays quietly in the water in a vertical or horizontal state, or they swim slowly next to their own kind while sleeping.

When sleeping, only one side of the bottlenose dolphin's brain stops moving, and the opposite side of the eye also begins to rest. The other side of the brain remains awake but less alert. This side of the brain signals when it needs to surface for fresh air.

After about two hours, the dolphin switches tasks between the left and right sides of the brain, and the awake side of the brain begins to rest, and the other side of the brain that has been resting for two hours is awakened.

To avoid drowning during sleep, it is crucial for marine mammals to maintain control of their respiratory holes. Although there is debate about this, most researchers believe that a dolphin or whale must be awake and alert to recognize whether its breathing holes are above the surface of the water.

There are other ways for marine mammals to hold their breath longer than other species of mammals. The lungs of marine mammals can breathe in more air because their lungs are larger than human lungs in proportion to their bodies. In addition, they can exchange more oxygen with each inhale and exhale, and their red blood cells also have a stronger ability to carry oxygen.

When diving, marine mammals' blood flows only to the parts of the body that need oxygen – the heart, brain, and muscles involved in swimming. Finally, marine mammals are more tolerant of carbon oxides (carbon dioxide). In fact, marine mammals rarely "drown" because they do not breathe underwater.

Whales have to sleep every day. When the whale sleeps, it always gathers several heads together, finds a relatively safe place, heads inward, tail outwards, in a circle, and floats quietly on the sea. If they hear something, they immediately disperse.

Most cetaceans are not very swarm, but sperm whales have a habit of organizing small families, which tend to be a female, a cub and a male.

The whale is adrift on the surface of the water to sleep because it breathes by its lungs.

Whales belong to the phylum Chordates, subphylum vertebrates, mammals, and eumatria, which contain about 98 species of viviparous mammals living in oceans and rivers.

There are more than 30 species in China's waters. All but a few species of whales live in freshwater, and all but a few inhabit the ocean. The definition of the whale itself is vague, and the whale can encompass all cetaceans, as well as specific families of cetaceans.

Whales generally sleep on the surface of the sea in a vertical or horizontal state, and their bodies are sometimes stationary and sometimes slowly swimming. Whales are aquatic mammals whose nostrils move to the top of their heads, and they need to swim by exposing their nostrils to the surface of the water at intervals to replace oxygen and breathe.

The body of the whale is fat and round, barrel-shaped, and streamlined when viewed sideways. Its head is directly connected to its body and cannot be twisted without moving its body.

Most whales have dorsal fins that stand behind or directly behind their backs. Its outer nostrils are located on the top of the head, commonly known as fumaroles, and breathe with the lungs.

Whales have small eyes, no tear ducts, and poor vision. It has no ears, but it has tiny ear holes and has good hearing in the water as well as in the air.

Whales generally sleep on the surface of the sea in a vertical or horizontal state.

Whales sleep with their bodies sometimes stationary and sometimes swimming slowly. Where cetaceans sleep varies from species to species. Some whales will rest on the surface, some will swim in the water non-stop while sleeping, and some will even rest well below the surface.

When a human goes to sleep, his entire brain falls asleep. But whales are different, when whales are sleeping, only half of their brain is resting – half of the brain is sleeping, and the other half of the brain is staying awake to notice whether the whale is retaining enough oxygen and to be aware of any dangers that may arise in the environment, which is known as single-hemispheric slow-wave sleep.

This unique sleep pattern also allows whales to stay mobile while sleeping, maintain their position relative to other whales in the family group, and stay alert to predators such as sharks.

The life of whales is blind to habits

When swimming, the whale mainly relies on the swing of the tail and tail lobe to gain forward momentum, while its front fin is mainly used to control the direction of travel and grasp the depth of the dive. The greatest thing about whales is not only that they are the largest animals on the planet, but also that they are a global roaming animal.

In the midst of this global migration, the polar regions are a must, because there is plenty of food and krill in abundance, so you can have a full meal and enough energy to go back to the temperate ocean for a few months of vacation.

In terms of feeding patterns, whales are divided into baleen whales and toothed whales. The upper jaw of baleen whales has a row of neatly arranged baleen on the upper jaw, like a grate, which plays a filtering role, when they have a large mouth, the water rolls the fish and shrimp into the mouth, and then closes, the water is discharged, but the fish and shrimp are swallowed, and the tongue of the large whale weighing several tons is rolled into the stomach. Toothed whales have sharp tooth grinding rock teeth, which they use to bite and devour.

Summary. Hello, the way whales sleep is very peculiar, called single-hemispheric slow-wave sleep. Whales in this sleep state will put their two halves of their brains in different states, half of the brain is awake to direct the body to swim and surface for breathing, and the other half of the brain is in a sleep state, so that after this half of the brain is asleep, it will come to sleep with the other half of the brain, so many times the whale is actually in a state of "half asleep and half awake".

When whales sleep, they are also similar to human breath holding. And ten or dozens of minutes of sleep may be enough for whales, if it is not enough, take a deep breath and take a nap. Hope it can help you, dear!

How do whales sleep?

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Hello, the way whales sleep is very peculiar, called single-hemispheric slow-wave sleep. Whales in this sleep state will put their two halves of their brains in different states, half of the brain is awake to direct the body to swim and surface for breathing, and the other half of the brain is in a sleep state, so that after this half of the brain is asleep, it will come to sleep with the other half of the brain, so many times the whale is actually in a state of "half asleep and half awake". When whales sleep, they are also similar to human breath holding.

And ten or dozens of minutes of sleep may be enough for whales, if it is not enough, take a deep breath and take a nap. Hope it can help you, dear! <>

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What do whales usually eat?

Hello, the food that whales eat is mollusk, fish, zooplankton, seals, fur seals, etc. Molluscs: also known as shellfish, is a general term for mollusks, and is the largest group except arthropods, with about 100,000 species. Thank you.