Do dolphins breathe with both their blowhole and their mouth?
All cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) breathe only through their blowholes, which are situated on or near the top of the head. Blowholes are similar to nostrils in other mammals, serving as openings to the respiratory passages. Baleen whales (e.g.: humpback and gray whales) have two blowholes side-by-side, while toothed whales (e.g.: dolphins and sperm whales) have only one blowhole. Cetaceans cannot breathe through their mouths, because the trachea (air passage) and esophagus (food passage) are completely separate. The trachea connects only to the blowhole. BACK TO ODONTOCETI INDEX OR ANSWER FILE Relationship between sharks and dolphins – Received Aug. 30 from Lisa in Los Angeles. Q: Please tell me about the relationship between sharks and dolphins. I am specifically interested in whether dolphins attack sharks and how they interact. A: Dolphins and sharks are both top-level predators in the marine environment. Its difficult to generalize about interactions between these orga
