Sperm Whales blow bubbles to achieve restful, vertical sleep

4 comments

• dguest1 hour ago
  The title of the original article [1] is a lot more clear:<p><pre><code> Buoyancy regulation through modulation of onboard gas volume by resting sperm whales </code></pre> They don&#x27;t &quot;blow bubbles&quot; to sleep vertically, they vent gas to regulate their specific gravity. This allows them to sleep vertically below the surface. The scientists measured the gas release by listening for bubbles, but they did a lot more: they actually modeled the buoyancy of whales and compared it with data.<p>If you&#x27;ve done any scuba diving (or swimming) you&#x27;re familiar with this method of buoyancy control. And most fish accomplish on actively transporting gas between an internal bladder and their blood.<p>The difference is that whales have no way to refill their lungs while submerged, which is why their dives start deep and slowly drift up: as long as they are drifting upward the volume in their lungs is expanding in response to decreasing pressure. So the bubbles are essentially a way of pumping the breaks, which is apparently something they can do in their sleep (if they are in fact sleeping).<p>Is anyone else slightly annoyed by the cutesy title? Of course I recognize that the meme economy runs on this stuff, so maybe it&#x27;s just nerds like me.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;dmscdn.vuelio.co.uk&#x2F;publicitem&#x2F;61eae467-9527-4922-b967-b5d362f12998" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;dmscdn.vuelio.co.uk&#x2F;publicitem&#x2F;61eae467-9527-4922-b9...</a>
  • wzdd1 minute ago
    &gt; They don&#x27;t &quot;blow bubbles&quot; to sleep vertically, they vent gas to regulate their specific gravity. This allows them to sleep vertically<p>When I read this I thought you&#x27;d discovered that the whales release the gas in a form other than by blowing bubbles, or that the purpose of doing so was for something other than sleep.<p>But no, they literally release air through through their blowhole in the form of bubbles, and, at least during study you linked, they do this while resting to maintain their vertical orientation.<p>They literally blow bubbles to achieve vertical sleep.
• kazinator1 hour ago
  If these are rainbow bubbles, that conclusively proves the whales had ADHD therapy sessions.
  • karim791 hour ago
    It does 100%. Might also indicate use of psychodelics. Gotta go with the science.
• giardini3 hours ago
  What happens if they have an attack of flatulence?<p>But seriously, this <i>must</i> happen sometimes!
  • karim793 hours ago
    They accelerate upwards and their bubbling metabolism will compensate. If any creatures on the surface die from inhalation of the fart then the whales become awake and feed on them immediately. Slumber resumed. It&#x27;s like a background clean-up process.
    • pierrec2 hours ago
      Yup, the old brap n&#x27; snap. Everyone who swims around whales knows and fears this.
      • karim791 hour ago
        Whale farts be deadly.
    • jb19912 hours ago
      This is an interesting theory but it’s not at all how sperm whales eat and doesn’t fit into their dietary habits that we know of.
      • karim792 hours ago
        It was just a muse. I wasn&#x27;t being serious at all.
• dnnehgf7 hours ago
  same