How do dolphins sleep?
A. Dolphins sleep only with one half of their brain at a time. Remember dolphins are conscious breathers. Should they sleep and go unconscious as we do they would simply suffocate or drown. Sleeping dolphins can be seen as resting, floating at the surface, with one eye open. After a time, they will close the one eye and open the other one. They alternate like this throughout their entire nap.
Dolphins sleep only with one half of their brain at a time! Remember Dolphins are conscious breathers. Should they sleep and go unconscious as we do they would simply suffocate or drown. Sleeping Dolphins can be seen as resting, floating at the surface, with one eye open. After a time, they will close the one eye and open the other one. They alternate like this throughout their entire nap.
Dolphins have to be conscious to breath (Williams et al, 1990). This means that they cannot go into a full deep sleep, because then they would suffocate. Dolphins have “solved” that by letting one half of their brain sleep at a time. This has been determined by doing EEG studies on dolphins. Dolphins sleep about 8 hours day in this fashion. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, usually associated with dreaming has been recorded only very rarely. Some scientists claim dolphins do not have REM sleep at all. A dolphin’s behavior when sleeping/resting depends on the circumstances and possibly on individual preferences. They can either: – swim slowly and surface every now and then for a breath – rest at the surface with their blowhole exposed – rest on the bottom (in shallow water) and rise to the surface every now and then to breath. sources: S.H Ridgway (1990) The Central Nervous System of the Bottlenose Dolphin, in S. Leatherwood and R.R. Reeves: The Bottlenose Dolphin, pp. 69-97, Academic Pre
Dolphins have to be conscious to breath.[1] This means that they cannot go into a full deep sleep, because then they would suffocate. Dolphins have “solved” that by letting one half of their brain sleep at a time. This has been determined by doing EEG studies on dolphins. Dolphins sleep about 8 hours day in this fashion. A dolphin’s behavior when sleeping/resting depends on the circumstances and possibly on individual preferences. They can either: 1. swim slowly and surface every now and then for a breath 2. rest at the surface with their blowhole exposed 3. rest on the bottom (in shallow water) and rise to the surface every now and then to breath.
