Many people wonder how do dolphins breathe? The answer to this is very simple, however, the first thing we must be clear about is that, although they live in the ocean, these animals are mammals, they are not fish. This means that they have lungs through which the air passes. Now, we are going to know everything about your breathing and where it is done.
Dolphin breathing
All right, first of all, we have to know that, although dolphins are Vertebrate animals mammals and that have lungs, they do not have a breath like humans or land mammals, this is because the mimes do not have an involuntary breath, so they must always remember the fact that they must rise to the surface to breathe.
At the time of going up to breathe, they must open their spiracle, where the retained air will come out and enter again. The spiracle is a hole that dolphins and whales have on the top of their heads, through which they can breathe, since these animals do not have nostrils. This "hole" will be connected to the dolphin's trachea, which will always be smaller than that of mammals that live on land.
One thing that stands out about dolphins is that they only use half a second to exhale all the air contained in their lungs, in the same way, it takes another half second to inhale the new oxygen, something that, for humans, is technically impossible. since, it takes us around 5 to 7 seconds to take an inspiration that completely fills our lungs with air and then exhale everything. If we try to breathe as fast as dolphins, we run the risk of hyperventilating.
Where do dolphins breathe?
We already mentioned it above, the dolphin breathing It is made through a hole on their hair that are called "spiracles", when the air enters, it passes through the trachea and the bronchi until finally reaching the lungs. This breath is held until they rise to the surface again to breathe.
Now it's time to find out how the lungs of these animals are formed. We must bear in mind that there are two major differences between the lungs of dolphins and the rest of mammals:
- The first difference that we will talk about is the anatomical one. We must know that our lungs, like the rest of the mammals that live on land, have lungs divided into lobes, there are two of them on the left and three on the right. However, dolphins lack this type of lobes, so we can say that their lungs are complete or smooth.
- The following difference can only be observed through microscope studies. Unlike other mammals, dolphins do not have lobules or bronchioles in their lungs, something that is essential in the lungs of humans and other mammals.
How do dolphins breathe in the water?
Something that we must take into account is the fact that dolphins, like whales, do not breathe in the water. They can hold their breath and swim underwater, however, they will only breathe the moment they surface. It should be noted that, at the moment the dolphin dives, various changes occur in its body that help it stay underwater for a certain period of time without the need to come out to breathe.
Most dolphins cannot be submerged without breathing for more than 30 seconds, however there are some species that exceed this time, in fact, some can even hold their breath for about 10 minutes.
When a dolphin is swimming underwater, a process occurs in its body which is known as the "diving reflex", this refers to the fact that the animal's body automatically decreases the number of heartbeats, However, this does not mean that your lungs and brain do not receive the same amount of oxygen and blood as when your heart beats normally.
The heart, for its part, decides to "donate" part of its blood flow to the muscles of your body, this will allow you to continue swimming without problems even if your heart rate decreases a little. This is the main reason why dolphins should not be submerged for too long without breathing.
Now, if it spends more time in the water than it should, and does not come to the surface to breathe, different biochemical transformations will begin to occur. The first thing that will happen is that there will be a large accumulation of lactic acids that will be released from the muscles and they will begin to make the blood more acidic, this would cause great problems in the animal. The next thing that can happen is that your body begins to run out of oxygen and for this reason, your organs begin to fail.
To prevent this from happening, or reduce the risks, the dolphin's body is perfectly capable of creating enzymes that are responsible for generating a greater amount of energy, which will help the animal to continue swimming without problems. However, you will need to surface as quickly as possible to breathe.
We must keep in mind that, the way in how do animals breathe underwater, those that are not mammals, is very different, since they mostly breathe through gills or through their skins, so we should not make comparisons between fish and mammals since they are animals with different respiratory systems.
How do dolphins sleep?
Many people wonder how do whales and dolphins breathe when they sleep as these are clearly mammals. Or what we should know is that the way these animals sleep is a Shark characteristics, this means that the mimes are also only half asleep. This is because, only half of his brain will be the one that rests, the other half will remain active helping him to keep swimming.
Now the crucial question is how do they breathe if they are asleep? The answer to this is very simple, this type of "half sleep" allows them, in addition to being able to keep moving, to have the ability to remember to come to the surface to breathe. Let's say that your body is in an "automatic" state that despite being asleep, they remember what they should do and that is vital for their survival.
Curiosities about the breathing of dolphins
A curious fact about these animals is that they have a synchronization when breathing, especially those that travel in a herd. This synchronization refers to the fact that all, or at least the vast majority, of the members of the pack, come out to breathe at the same time as if they were one. Some studies carried out on dolphins show that this happens much more often when there is greater marine traffic. The reason for this and the consequences it may bring to the species, if any, are still unknown.
However, scientists say that there are behavioral changes in dolphins when they are surrounded by heavy traffic. Even today these patterns are still being studied, especially that of synchronized breathing.
When a baby dolphin is born, it is immediately brought to the surface to take a breath for the first time, this is done by its own mother, but it can also be done by another member of the pod that is nearby and wants to participate. There is evidence where some mothers can be seen trying to keep their calf on the surface hoping that it will breathe, however it is found dead. The mother may spend long hours trying to get her calf to breathe before she accepts that she has already died.
Since dolphins have completely voluntary breathing, that is, they decide when to breathe, they can also decide not to. An example of this case would be that of the dolphin who was trained to act in the role of the famous "flipper" movie.
She lived constantly with her trainer, they swam and played together, however, one day, during one of these sessions, she approached her breeder, let him touch her and hug her, while doing so, the dolphin decided close its blowhole and didn't open it anymore, so it inevitably died.
It is believed that the reason why this dolphin decided to do this is that she felt lonely and sad. These animals live in herds, their interaction with other dolphins is of the utmost importance for them and their development, so it is harmful to keep them locked up in pools, aquariums or other elements where they are isolated from their families or friends.
They are extremely intelligent animals, those people who have trained dolphins can attest to this. However, the best thing for the species in general and for each of its individuals is that the mimes can live in their natural habitat being free.
How long can a dolphin last out of the water?
Something that we must all take into account is that, although dolphins must breathe out of the water, they cannot stay out of it for too long, this is because their skin is very delicate and tends to be damaged if it is not constantly moist. or wet. On the other hand, if a dolphin remains at rest for a long time, it can have health problems, since they must be in constant movement.
We must also bear in mind that it is very harmful for them to remain on solid surfaces, since their bodies are not used to supporting their own weight, so they run the risk of being crushed. For this reason, when scientists are going to do an evaluation of a dolphin, they tend to do it quickly and always keeping the animal wet, in this way they can examine it and do the necessary tests, without the animal getting hurt or dying.
