Sperm Whales blow bubbles to achieve restful, vertical sleep

They accelerate upwards and their bubbling metabolism will compensate. If any creatures on the surface die from inhalation of the fart then the whales become awake and feed on them immediately. Slumber resumed. It's like a background clean-up process.

Re: Sperm Whales blow bubbles to achieve restful, vertical sleep

#6

Post by jb1991 » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 4:14 AM UTC

karim79 wrote: post #5

giardini wrote: post #4

What happens if they have an attack of flatulence? But seriously, this must happen sometimes!

They accelerate upwards and their bubbling metabolism will compensate. If any creatures on the surface die from inhalation of the fart then the whales become awake and feed on them immediately. Slumber resumed. It's like a background clean-up process.

This is an interesting theory but it’s not at all how sperm whales eat and doesn’t fit into their dietary habits that we know of.

Re: Sperm Whales blow bubbles to achieve restful, vertical sleep

#7

Post by karim79 » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 4:18 AM UTC

jb1991 wrote: post #6

karim79 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They accelerate upwards and their bubbling metabolism will compensate. If any creatures on the surface die from inhalation of the fart then the whales become awake and feed on them immediately. Slumber resumed. It's like a background clean-up process.

This is an interesting theory but it’s not at all how sperm whales eat and doesn’t fit into their dietary habits that we know of.

It was just a muse. I wasn't being serious at all.

Re: Sperm Whales blow bubbles to achieve restful, vertical sleep

#8

Post by pierrec » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 4:26 AM UTC

karim79 wrote: post #5

giardini wrote: post #4

What happens if they have an attack of flatulence? But seriously, this must happen sometimes!

They accelerate upwards and their bubbling metabolism will compensate. If any creatures on the surface die from inhalation of the fart then the whales become awake and feed on them immediately. Slumber resumed. It's like a background clean-up process.

Yup, the old brap n' snap. Everyone who swims around whales knows and fears this.

Re: Sperm Whales blow bubbles to achieve restful, vertical sleep

#9

Post by kazinator » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 5:36 AM UTC

If these are rainbow bubbles, that conclusively proves the whales had ADHD therapy sessions.

Re: Sperm Whales blow bubbles to achieve restful, vertical sleep

#10

Post by dguest » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 5:36 AM UTC

The title of the original article [1] is a lot more clear:

    Buoyancy regulation through modulation of onboard gas volume by resting sperm whales

They don't "blow bubbles" to sleep vertically, they vent gas to regulate their specific gravity. This allows them to sleep vertically below the surface. The scientists measured the gas release by listening for bubbles, but they did a lot more: they actually modeled the buoyancy of whales and compared it with data.

If you've done any scuba diving (or swimming) you're familiar with this method of buoyancy control. And most fish accomplish on actively transporting gas between an internal bladder and their blood.

The difference is that whales have no way to refill their lungs while submerged, which is why their dives start deep and slowly drift up: as long as they are drifting upward the volume in their lungs is expanding in response to decreasing pressure. So the bubbles are essentially a way of pumping the breaks, which is apparently something they can do in their sleep (if they are in fact sleeping).

Is anyone else slightly annoyed by the cutesy title? Of course I recognize that the meme economy runs on this stuff, so maybe it's just nerds like me.

[1]: https://dmscdn.vuelio.co.uk/publicitem/61eae467-9527-4922-b9...