Do you know how whales sleep in the sea? Can you tell us about it?

Every animal in the world needs sleep, from elephants to jellyfish, from humans to ants, some animals need a long time to sleep every day, such as domestic cats, pigs and koalas, and some animals sleep for more than half an hour a day, such as giraffes, wild horses. So how do the creatures in the ocean sleep? In particular, whales, dolphins and other marine animals that are allowed to breathe.

Isn't it strange that a French photographer once stumbled upon an unusual scene of whales standing motionless in the water and groups of sperm whales lined vertically in the ocean? In fact, this is the position of the whale to sleep.

The whale sleeps for a short period of time, only about 15 minutes, and he sleeps upright like this for 7% of his life. At the same time, the whale can stay awake even when he is sleeping, because half of his brain is active all the time while he is asleep. Therefore, when the whale is asleep, which side of the eye is open, it means that the brain is active.

A lot of people think that whales are like this. Sleep isn't a normal sleep state at all, but it's all understandable, just like you can't sleep well when you live in an environment where you can be attacked at any time. For sperm whales, the biggest danger when sleeping comes from killer whales, so the brain is generally suitable to stay awake to ensure that they can react quickly when they encounter danger.

And the more important reason is that the whale that lives in the ocean must control its breathing, after all, it cannot breathe underwater. Therefore, half of the whale's brain must constantly monitor whether it can breathe now. The whale also has perfect control over its respiratory system when it is asleep, and it must know when to properly distribute oxygen to the right organs.

So why do whales choose to sleep instead of lying flat? This is because of the sperm whale's vital organs and lungs. It is concentrated in the upper body, and its lower body is heavier, so when the body is relaxed, it is generally perpendicular to the water, which is more comfortable for whales.

Basically all fish sleep without closing their eyes, on the one hand, depending on the different eye structure of fish and humans, they do not have eyelids, and on the other hand, the cerebral cortex, the brain of fish does not have a cerebral cortex, which also means that their sleep is completely different from that of primates such as humans.

Yes, whales, as mammals, have to go to the surface to breathe, and while they sleep, half of their brain controls sleep and the other half is responsible for sustaining life.

Large groups of whales fall asleep and are perpendicular to the water like giant stone pillars. As mammals, whales rely on their lungs to breathe, and when they sleep, they have some of the same breath-holding behavior as humans, with strong muscles around their nostrils that close tightly in the water. Whales have a huge lung capacity and can go underwater for tens of minutes without breathing, and these hours are used by them to sleep.

This characteristic directly determines that the whales will not sleep for as long as humans, but dozens of minutes of rest are enough for whales.

There are two kinds:1The whale floats horizontally or vertically in the sea, and is restless, 2The body swims slowly and regularly, but is already asleep.

Whales in the ocean also need to sleep.

Cetaceans belong to the category of mammals, and they also need to sleep and rest. They do not rent or need to sleep continuously for long periods of time, but are fragmented, somewhat similar to the withering and breath-holding behavior of humans. They also sleep in different positions, with pods of sperm whales going to sleep in a vertical state and killer whales coming to sleep as they surface.

Whales have to sleep every day, and when they sleep, they always get together. They usually find a relatively safe place, with their heads facing inwards and tails facing outwards, in a circle, and float quietly on the surface of the sea. If they hear any sounds, they immediately scatter in all directions.

Population status

Due to environmental degradation and mass human killing, cetaceans, especially some large type members, are widely hunted due to their high economic value, and many cetaceans are on the verge of extinction. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is an international organization responsible for managing whaling and cetacean conservation. After commercial whaling led to a sharp decline in whale populations, the IWC decided to take action to protect cetaceans.

These include the Whaling Prohibition Convention, which entered into force in 1986, and established the Indian Ocean Cetacean Sanctuary in 1979 and the Southern Ocean Cetacean Sanctuary in 1994. However, since 1986, some countries such as Japan and Norway have taken advantage of the loopholes in the IWC resolution to kill at least 25,000 whales or dolphins every year under the banner of "scientific whaling".

Whales need to sleep.

For a long time, we speculated about the sleep behavior of cetaceans, until 2008, when a biological research team from the United Kingdom and Japan discovered a group of sleeping sperm whales, and finally revealed the answer.

Scientists have found that sperm whale pods fall asleep in a vertical state within 15 meters below the surface of the sea, just like driftwood, and their sleep time is really very short compared to humans, between 6 and 24 minutes, which is equivalent to human napping. After breathing at the surface, sperm whales fall asleep under the surface of the sea in a state of breathlessness, and scientists estimate that sperm whales sleep only 7% of their lifetime.

Sperm whales

The sperm whale has a huge head, a small lower jaw, only teeth in the lower jaw, a body length of up to 18 meters, and a weight of more than 50 tons, making it the largest toothed whale, with a head that can occupy 1 3 of the body, and no dorsal fin. It is extremely capable of diving, and is the deepest and longest dive mammal. The geographic range of the sperm whale's distribution is wide, from the equator to high latitudes, and it can be seen in almost all areas of the ocean.

But it is usually found on the continental slope or in deeper waters, likes to live in groups, often by a small number of male whales and large groups of female whales, calves form a large group of more than dozens, or even two or three hundred, every year for reproduction and foraging for north-south migration, its swimming speed is very fast, up to more than ten nautical miles per hour. The main food of the burial is large squid, octopus, and fish, while squid and octopus mainly eat shrimp, crabs, and other crustaceans and fish.

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.

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 this is still debated, most hunger researchers believe that a dolphin or whale must be awake and alert to recognize whether its breathing hole is above the surface.

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 each time they 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 associated with swimming. Finally, marine mammals are more tolerant of carbon oxides (carbon dioxide). In fact, marine mammals rarely "drown" because they do not breathe underwater.

The sleep time of the whale is not fixed, if it is when it encounters strong winds and waves, it simply does not sleep, and the whale family is centered on the whale head and sleeps in a radial shape in a circle. The whale sleeps on the surface of the water because it breathes on its lungs and cannot stay in the water for long periods of time. But it.

There is no way to sleep in the shallow sea or on the shore, this is the reason. Because the whale's body is too large and very bulky, if there is no buoyancy of water to help it share the weight, its inside. The organs will be crushed, they will not be able to breathe, and eventually they will die.

Therefore, when the whale sleeps, it always gathers several heads together to find a relatively safe place, with the head facing inward and the tail outward, in a circle, floating quietly on the surface of the sea. It is easy to fix the body, protect the pups, and defend against enemies. If they hear something, they immediately scatter in all directions.

When a whale sleeps, only half of its brain is resting, and the other half continues to function to maintain its swimming position.

In addition, healthy whales will never choke on water, because they go to the surface to breathe like a human breathing, unless they are sick and dying.

Fish are divided into freshwater fish and saltwater fish, it tastes delicious, it has always been a favorite food of the public, we all know that fish do not have eyelids, so how do they sleep?

Whales are social animals, and when it is time to sleep, they will have many heads gathered together, with their heads facing inwards and tails facing outwards in a circle, and sleep in groups.

The upstairs description is very detailed, praise one! I've learned too, thank you!