Do whales experience holding their breath the same as us?

Submitted by Meili_Ahlgren t3_zbkfp0 in askscience

I was watching a video on blue whales just now and found out they surface to breathe once every half hour normally and I wondered how it must feel to them to hold their breath for that long. I can hold my breath for only 30 seconds before I start to feel a little uncomfortable.

Do whales have the same system as us that governs that automatic urge to breathe or is breathing and overall more conscious process for them?

20

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

tobi437u t1_iywc883 wrote

No, whales experience holding their breath differently than us. Whales have a different breathing system than humans that allows them to remain underwater for extended periods of time. Whales have evolved a set of physiological adaptations that enable them to hold their breath for long periods of time without feeling the urge to breathe. These adaptations include an enlarged volume of oxygen-rich blood, an increased ability to store oxygen in their muscles, and an increased efficiency of oxygen utilization throughout their body. Additionally, whales have a “conscious control” over their breathing, which allows them to regulate their oxygen uptake and hold their breath for extended periods of time.

12

Meili_Ahlgren OP t1_iyxhqmi wrote

Oh wow, that's cool! Is the urge to breathe in humans instinctual or is there a chemical signal that pushes us to after a certain amount of CO2 builds up in our bodies? If we had the physiological adaptations of a whale (the blood and muscle oxygen storage) would we still experience a push to breathe before we reached an unsafe blood CO2 level or would we be able to go longer because of that increased oxygen retention?

3

Fidgetable t1_iz0rfmu wrote

You'd probably be interested to learn about Freediving! it's a human sport where we override the urge to breathe while swimming underwater for up to several minutes.

3