Sperm Whales Use Bubbles as Ballast To Do Their Bizarre Vertical Rest
Researchers have discovered that sperm whales use controlled exhalations of bubbles to manage their buoyancy during vertical 'drift-dives' while sleeping. This behavior helps the massive mammals remain submerged in a motionless, pillar-like state.
Why it matters
This finding solves a long-standing biological mystery regarding how large marine mammals manage buoyancy during rest.
In one of the ocean’s strangest sleep routines, sperm whales can hang almost motionless in the water like giant living pillars. Now, a new study suggests that the giants maintain this improbable pose by using a surprising trick: bubbles.
Data from whales tagged off northern Norway indicate that with every exhalation, whales eliminate some of the gas inside their bodies. Thus, they reduce their buoyancy and prevent an unwanted rise to the surface. The finding reveals a stunning new dimension to what was already one of the animal kingdom’s most mysterious forms of sleep.
Resting sperm whales look surreal. They hang almost motionless, usually head-up, beneath the reach of breaking waves. After roughly 10 to 20 minutes, they rise to breathe.
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