{"id":603062,"date":"2026-07-25T04:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T04:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/603062\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T04:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T04:04:17","slug":"sperm-whales-use-bubbles-as-ballast-to-do-their-bizarre-vertical-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/603062\/","title":{"rendered":"Sperm Whales Use Bubbles as Ballast To Do Their Bizarre Vertical Rest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AI<\/a>Schematic image showing sperm whales using bubbles while resting. Image purely for illustrative purposes.<\/p>\n

In one of the ocean\u2019s strangest sleep routines, sperm whales can hang almost motionless in the water like giant living pillars. Now, a new study suggests that the giants maintain this improbable pose by using a surprising trick: bubbles. <\/p>\n

Data from whales tagged off northern Norway indicate that with every exhalation, whales eliminate some of the gas inside their bodies. Thus, they reduce their buoyancy and prevent an unwanted rise to the surface. The finding reveals a stunning new dimension to what was already one of the animal kingdom\u2019s<\/a> most mysterious forms of sleep.<\/p>\n

A Most Mysterious Sleep<\/p>\n

Resting sperm whales<\/a> look surreal. They hang almost motionless, usually head-up, beneath the reach of breaking waves. After roughly 10 to 20 minutes, they rise to breathe.<\/p>\n

How or why they do this exactly is still unclear. Scientists formally described<\/a> this behavior only in 2008 after fitting whales around the world with suction-cup tags. The instruments recorded depth and movement as the animals entered passive \u201cdrift-dives.\u201d These resting bouts seem to only occupy 7.1% of the total recording time.<\/p>\n

In addition to the biology questions, the behavior posed a stubborn physics problem.<\/p>\n

Air makes an animal float. So do many lipid-rich tissues, including those packed into the sperm whale\u2019s<\/a> enormous head. Sperm whales experience particularly strong upward buoyancy, especially in the top 100 metres of the ocean. So, how do resting whales remain submerged and not float towards the surface?<\/p>\n

No\u00e9mie Freymond of the Universit\u00e9 de Neuch\u00e2tel and Alec Burslem and Patrick Miller of the University of St Andrews decided to investigate. They examined recordings from suction-cup tags deployed on 42 sperm whales around Norway\u2019s Lofoten Islands. The tags measured depth and three-dimensional body movement while recording nearby sounds. Seventeen of the whales rested during the deployments, providing the researchers with synchronized records of posture, motion and the distinctive sounds of underwater exhalations. <\/p>\n

The records revealed three broad resting patterns:<\/p>\n

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