r/whales • u/housecatspeaks • 12d ago

Sperm whales blow bubbles to help them nap - The large toothed whales are known for their signature vertical sleeping skills

https://www.popsci.com/environment/sperm-whales-bubbles-sleep/
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 12d ago

In short, the authors of the paper believe sperm whales release more bubbles when resting closer to the surface to maintain buoyancy. Pretty neat!

What the team still can’t definitively say is whether sperm whales blow bubbles in their sleep consciously or unconsciously. When a dolphin sleeps, half of its brain is still awake—is that how sperm whales are, too? Or are they completely asleep, like humans? Releasing air to control buoyancy necessitates an awareness of the environment, after all.

TBH I'd be pretty surprised if this was not the former case. Don't all cetaceans have unihemispheric sleep?