To know how dolphins breathe, it is important to emphasize that we must not take into account the environment in which they live. Despite their physical form and livelihood, Dolphins are not fish, on the contrary, they are marine mammals and therefore breathe through lungs.
In this article on our site we will discover how dolphins breathe, what mechanism they use when they dive underwater and other curiosities.
Dolphins' breath
Although dolphins are not fish, it is important to note that dolphins do not breathe in the same way as humans. Unlike land mammals, Dolphins do not have involuntary breathing These aquatic animals must take into account that they need to go up and take a breath. To do this, they rise to the surface and open the blowhole, a hole on their heads. This spiracle connects directly with the trachea, which is generally shorter than in land mammals.
On average, dolphins take half a second to exhale all the air and half a second to inspire. If you do a test, we humans take much longer to completely fill our lungs and empty them again, about six seconds, if we take less, we could hyperventilate.
Anatomically, Dolphin lungs are different from those of land mammals. Any mammal has lungs divided into several lobes, but dolphins do not.
Where Do Dolphins Breathe?
As we said before, dolphins take in air through the spiracle, which is led to the lungs through a shortened trachea and the bronchi.
Now, once you've figured out where dolphins breathe, what are dolphins' lungs like? There are two main differences between the lungs of cetaceans, the group to which dolphins belong, and land mammals:
- The first difference lies directly in the lungs. These organs appear lobed in mammals that live on earth, specifically, we have 3 lobes in the right lung and 2 in the left. In contrast, in dolphins this division does not exist.
- The second difference appears at the microanatomical level. Dolphin lungs lack lobules and bronchioles, as do land mammals.
How do dolphins breathe in the water?
Dolphins do not breathe in the water, however, they can stand in it without breathing. To understand how dolphins breathe, it is important to know that when a dolphin dives underwater, a series of physiological changes take place that allow it to stay for a certain time. In general, a dolphin does not remain submerged for more than half a minute without breathing, although, depending on the species, can last up to 10 minutes underwater
During underwater swimming, dolphins produce something known as the “diving reflex” This physiological mechanismconsists of profound bradycardia (decreased heart rate). Despite this, it has been proven that both the brain and the lungs continue to receive the same amount of blood, but the heart diverts part of what corresponds to the muscles to maintain good oxygenation of them and be able to continue swimming.
If the dolphin remains submerged for a long time or the diving sessions are too continuous, other changes begin to take place at the biochemical level. On the one hand, there is a accumulation of lactic acid from the muscles and the blood becomes acidic, which is a problem. On the other hand, it decreases the concentration of oxygen in the blood. To counteract this situation, a series of reactions related to glycolytic enzymes are produced to ensure energy production, to be able to continue moving the muscles and, by anaerobiosis, the lactic acid produced is eliminated.
How do dolphins sleep?
Dolphins have a peculiar way of sleeping, we could say that they sleep with one eye open. This type of sleep is known as unihemispheric. While half the brain sleeps, the other half continues to function. So how do dolphins breathe when they sleep? Very simply, thanks to this type of sleep, dolphins, which are animals that breathe voluntarily, can sleep and breathe at the same time While a part of the brain rests, the other is in charge of keeping the body in constant interaction with the environment in order to come to the surface and breathe.
To learn all the details about dolphin sleep, don't miss this other article: "How do dolphins sleep?"
Curiosities about dolphin breathing
Dolphins carry out synchronous breathing when they are in a group, especially if there are very young individuals in it. Through this breathing, all the individuals of the herd come out for air relatively at the same time. A study showed that the presence of maritime traffic increases this synchrony, the consequences of which are still unknown. What is a fact is that the presence of intense traffic causes changes in the behavior of the dolphins.
Neonatal dolphins are carried by their mothers, or by other pod members, to the surface to take their first breath just after birth. There have been cases in which a mother has stayed all night keeping her calf on the surface in a last attempt to get her to breathe, when the calf had already died. In the following article you will learn more about the reproduction of dolphins: "How do dolphins reproduce and are born?".
On the other hand, as we said, breathing in dolphins is voluntary, therefore they can decide not to breathe It seems that this was the case of the dolphin used to play the role of Flipper in the series that bore the same name. This female dolphin lived in the same lake where the series was filmed with her trainer. One day, during a bathing session, the dolphin approached her caregiver, she let herself be taken by his arms, closed her blowhole and never opened it again.
Dolphins are social animals that swim more than 50 sea miles daily, with a highly developed brain and extraordinary intellectual complexity, therefore they should never be kept in Dolphinariums They must live in freedom, together with their family and friends.
How long can a dolphin stay out of the water?
Finally, despite the fact that dolphins breathe air, out of the water they survive a few hours This is due to several reasons. First, stranded dolphins often have poor he alth conditions that shorten their lives. In addition, out of the water, dolphins dehydrate quickly, their skin is very sensitive and needs to be constantly renewed, something they cannot do outside their environment. Finally, the dolphins end up being crushed under their own weight, since, normally, they do not have a solid surface under their body.
Discover more curiosities about these magnificent animals in this article: "10 curiosities about dolphins".
