How do dolphins sleep? The truth and fables about the dream of dolphins

Sleep is a natural and compulsory need of all mammals on the planet. However, the truth about the dream of dolphins for a long time was a mystery to researchers. Are dolphins sleeping with one open eye? It was once thought that these animals rest "snatches" between the breaths of the air or even deprived of sleep at all. Both of these assumptions turned out to be incorrect. Today, scientists already know the true answer to the question of how dolphins sleep.

Interesting information about dolphins

Dolphins - warm-blooded mammalian animals from a detachment of cetaceans - have rightly earned the fame of some of the most mysterious creatures on Earth. The characteristic nickname of dolphins - "The Sea People" - underscores the fact that their intellectual potential is so great that they are considered smarter and smarter than all other animals on the planet.

Dolphins live in schools. Among these beings mutual assistance is developed, sometimes reaching self-sacrifice. Dolphins are able to talk, issuing about ten variations of different sounds at both normal and ultrasonic frequencies. In addition, they have a unique hearing that operates on the principle of echolocation and allows you to determine not only the distance to the object or object, but even its size and shape.

The dolphin is considered one of the fastest marine animals - in the water it is able to reach speeds of up to forty kilometers per hour! These animals are predators, they feed mainly on fish. The life span of a dolphin is about thirty years.

In the wild, many dolphins readily contact people. The dolphin, rescuing from the danger of his own kind, will also float to the aid of man. He will pull the drowning man ashore, drive the shark away from him, and show the way to the sailors. This fact has long been proven, but the essence of this phenomenon has so far failed to explain.

Do dolphins sleep?

Sleep dolphins are vital - just like all other mammals. However, in these animals it is special. The conducted observations, as well as studies of the bioelectrical activity of the brain, revealed a completely definite picture of how dolphins actually sleep.

In order not to drown during sleep or not to fall prey to a predator attack, these marine mammals sleep "half". One hemisphere of the animal's brain during sleep gets a full rest, the second keeps awake, controlling what is happening around and respiratory function. That is why dolphins sleep with one open eye: if the right brain is resting, the left eye is closed, and vice versa. Such a dream takes about six or seven hours a day. And when the dolphin wakes up, both hemispheres begin to work.

How dolphins sleep

Unusual at first glance, the peculiarity of the "half-sleep" sleep of a dolphin does not prevent it from passing through all phases, from fast to deep, while at the same time providing the animal with a full rest. Scientists closely followed the way dolphins sleep and revealed common patterns. This always happens at shallow depth, near the surface of the water. Due to the high content in the body of adipose tissue, the dolphins very slowly descend. Every now and then the animal, being in a dream, strikes the tail with water and floats to the surface in order to breathe in air. After that, it again slowly descends to a depth.

Breathing of a dolphin in a dream

Feeling when surfacing on the surface of a change in the environment, the dolphin opens the breather (nostril). He breathes very quickly: due to the peculiarities of the structure of the respiratory tract, he is able to breathe in and out at the same time. During the stay under water, the breather remains a securely closed dense valve.

Newborn dolphins do not sleep for a month!

Studies have proven: the assumption that dolphins never sleep is a myth. However, another curious fact was discovered. Scientists of the University of California in Los Angeles have found out that newborn cubs of dolphins and whales do not fall asleep during the first month of their life! In addition, babies are also forcing their mothers to remain active all this time ...

Tiny dolphins are in motion constantly, floating to the surface to recruit air every three to thirty seconds. And only a month later in their daily routine begin to appear short periods of sleep, which are gradually approaching the norm, characteristic of an adult animal.

American biologists have suggested that this behavior reduces the risk of being eaten by predators for babies of dolphins and whales, and also enables them to maintain a stable body temperature. In this regard, they raised an interesting question about the existence of a certain reserve in the mammals, allowing them a long time to do without sleep, without experiencing any harm to health.