How Do Dolphins SLEEP With ONE Eye OPEN?

There are so many things about so many animals that will absolutely shock you. One of these is the secret of how dolphins sleep. You might have heard that there's something shocking about the way dolphins sleep, but have you ever wondered exactly what it is? Why do so many people discuss the sleep of dolphins? Well, if those questions are on your mind, just stay tuned until the end of the video because we'll discuss it all today. For us humans, sleep is considered the closest thing to death, or in fact, half death. That's because when we are asleep, we're completely unconscious. Our brains shut down. We are totally unaware of our surroundings. The only thing keeping us alive is the fact that our body is actually forcing us to keep breathing. We sleep peacefully in our beds. Of course, we can be unaware of our surroundings. But think about a dolphin. It lives in water. How can it be completely unconscious? Won't it end up sinking or even dying? Won't it end up being attacked by all the predators in the sea? Yes, they would. So how exactly do dolphins sleep while still being completely in touch with their surroundings? Well, like I mentioned, when humans sleep, their whole brain shuts down. But dolphins only sleep with half their brain. That means they don't become unconscious like us. In fact, they remain semi-conscious. We have the amazing leverage that our bodies can force us to breathe. Dolphins don't have that luxury. So how do dolphins breathe? Well, they have to tell themselves to breathe. That's why they can never get fully unconscious when they're asleep. But no matter what, every animal's brain needs time to rest. So you might be wondering one thing. Does only half their brain rest? How do they function then? Well, they only shut off half their brain at a time. That half of their brain is resting while the other half of their brain is fully conscious and is keeping them alive. And to make sure their brain fully rests, they keep alternating between the half that's sleeping. After every two hours, they alternate between each side of the brain. But that's not all. The side of their brains isn't the only thing they alternate between while sleeping. Like I mentioned earlier, they need to make sure they don't get attacked or killed by a predator out in the sea while they're sleeping. So how do they make sure that doesn't happen? Well, for that, they sleep with one eye open. Yes, dolphins only close one eye when they're sleeping. They use the other eye to keep a lookout for any predators. So here's another question. If the left side of their brain is sleeping, does that mean their left eye is closed? Well, no. It's actually the other way around. The brain of a dolphin controls the opposite side of the dolphin. That means if the left side of their brain sleeps, their right eye is closed. And on the other hand, if the right side sleeps, the left eye is closed. And of course, after every two hours, the side of the brain and the eye changes. There's actually a name for this type of sleep. It's called unihemispheric sleep, which means only one hemisphere of the brain sleeps at any given moment. So are dolphins the only animal that have unihemispheric sleeping patterns? Well, here's a fun fact. Dolphins aren't the only animal to sleep like that. Some other mammals like whales and sea lions also sleep like that. Now, here's another question. How do they make sure their bodies don't sink when they're asleep? Well, that's because dolphins can keep swimming while they're asleep. When they're sleeping, dolphins usually lie at the surface of the water completely unmoving. Because of that, they have access to the surface of the water and they can easily take breaths. This habit is referred to as logging. Wondering where the name logging comes from? Well, it's simply because dolphins look like logs when they're asleep and floating on the surface of the water. This is the case for deep waters. However, when dolphins are in shallow water, they end up sleeping on the seabed because that's easier for their bodies. So how do they breathe? Well, when they need to breathe, they travel the short distance to go to the surface of the water. To be even more cautious, dolphins make use of teamwork. Most adult male dolphins travel in pairs, which means they all swim together even when they're sleeping. This ensures the safety of the whole group. Even large groups of female dolphins travel together and sleep close by to each other. This ensures the safety of the whole group. So did you find this video interesting? Well, if you did, make sure to subscribe to the channel and press the bell icon to learn more fun facts about many different animals. Also, don't forget to give this video a big thumbs up. So I'll see you guys next time. Till then, peace out and have a great day.