• Question: When dolphins dive deep into the sea how do they not get crushed by the pressure?

    Asked by anna1999 to Jo, Kevin, Valeria on 21 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 21 Jun 2012:

      They have adaptions in their body to help them! Although they don’t dive as deep as whales, they can go as deep as 300m.

      Dolphins have a flexible ribcage with a large number of free-floating ribs, which aid on deep dives. At a certain depth, high pressure causes a dolphin’s lungs to collapse. A flexible ribcage facilitates this process.

      Also, dolphins take very little air with them on a dive, allowing the increasing pressure caused by their depth to slowly push the air into their lungs, which helps conserve oxygen.

    • Photo: Joanna Cruden

      Joanna Cruden answered on 21 Jun 2012:

      They also are careful not to come up to quickly as when ascending they are still susceptible and must rid themselves of gas, they also slow their heart beat down, collapse the tiny air-filled chambers in their lungs and channel blood to essential organs like the brain to conserve oxygen and limil the build-up of nitrogen bubbles in the blood that happens at depth 🙂

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