Marine life is pretty vast and mysterious. We have only yet discovered about 3 percent of our oceans. So there is a large space left to our imaginations. Many species of aquatic life reside in the oceans. There are phytoplankton for trees, oxygen mixed with water for inhalation, sharks and whales for predators, small fishes for prey and many more. One of the curious things is….How do dolphins breathe?Well for that first we have to see what makes us,humans different from dolphins in the race of respiration
- Human respiration
Now, we are terrestrial animals and mammals. Our breathing when we sleep is slightly different from dolphins. We humans have our reflexes which makes us continue breathing even when we are unconscious (sleeping).Yes, the breathing is just 15 percent of when we are actually awake but the breathing process is automatic and continuous.
Source: Nursecepts
- Dolphins
Now, dolphins are some interesting creatures.They are mammals, like us. So they don’t really have any bills like fishes do. Meaning they can’t breathe the oxygen which is dissolved in water but completely depend on atmospheric oxygen .Which is why they have to come up regularly, from the water to breathe in the oxygen. But the actual problem and the question arises when dolphins want to sleep! How does a dolphin breathe when it’s asleep? Anyways it has to breathe for his functions to work properly…
From: Pexels
- When they are asleep
When dolphins sleep, they do something very interesting. For that we have to see the body structure of a dolphin. We all agree that a brain has 2 parts. So what happens is, dolphins have their left brain connected to the right eye and the right brain connected to the left eye. Basically, it allows one half of a brain to sleep at a time. So, only half of the brain is unconscious while the other remains awake. So, if the left brain is resting, and the right eye is closed, is the left eye still open? Yes! As the left brain is still awake,the right eye remains open. Don’t get confused:1. Left eye- connected to the right brain. 2. Right eye- connected to the left brain.
From: Jeremy Bishop
So if one pair of the brain and eye are sleeping, the other part remains awake and continues to do the normal activities like breathing. Sometimes, they can even be seen swimming gently and steadily while the other part remains unconscious. The dolphins cannot sleep in complete unconsciousness because then they will drown because they constantly need oxygen for staying alive. This process continues periodically until both the parts have rested and the dolphin continues to do it’s normal work.This process also has a name – unihemispheric sleep because they sleep with semi- unconsciousness. Meaning, only one brain sleeps at a time. Sometimes, it sleeps on the sea bed and arise constantly for air to breathe. Now, you never mess with a sleeping dolphin, because they are never completely unconscious and when you are disturbing them, the conscious part of Their brain and the unconscious part awakens , starting to chase you, and that will not be pleasant. According to EEG at average, a dolphin sleeps for probably 8 hours. That can be under water for about 8 to 10 minutes, maximum- 15 minutes.
Their nostrils are called blow holes which are present just top of their heads. They also have the ability to alter their surroundings.
Source:Photo by HAMID ELBAZ
Fun fact- After humans, dolphins come second in the property of the development of brain because they have complex abilities like problem solving, forming social groups etc.
Blow holes are closed when underwater. Hence, preventing the dolphins surviving, underwater. But haven’t they adapted themselves to grow gills and breathe? No, they adapted themselves to survive with this procedure. Well, good for us isn’t it?
But one should know that dolphins which are untrained (wild) are not to be played with. Cases can go up to lacerations (deep cuts) and broken bones as well. This is because wild dolphins like to kill just for fun. In fact, it’s in their emotions which have a property to kill or harm without any particular reason. It is advised that one must not act carelessly with Dolphins.
As usual, being precautions can be the only solution in front of a dolphin🐬

Avatars attended graduation and not let the spirits get dampened by the current pandemic. The students of IIT Bombay showed their technical talent at their virtual reality graduation ceremony held on Sunday, 23 August 2020. Over 2000 graduates attended this ceremony as their own digital avatars. The University created avatars for each student, faculty members and speaker. In computing World Avatar is a digital representation of a person or character. This word had been taken from the concept of Gods having various forms in Hindu mythology. In Sanskrit, Avatar means Descent. In Hindu mythology when Gods come on to Earth, they take different forms of life and these forms are known as Avatars. We can think of VR as near reality. Virtual Reality uses technology to create an experience that seems real but is not actually happening. It stimulates an Environment and users can interact with 3D objects and living things in this virtual environment. Student avatars walked on the podium to receive their diplomas. Afterwards, these students even interacted with each other. Classmates and Colleagues virtually explored the campus. The Director of IIT Bombay, Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri hoped that this effort will inspire Engineers to think big and think innovatively. His words: “providing a virtual reality experience to all our graduates needed not only highly innovative steps but also a tremendous effort by our professors and staff.” Director Subhasis Chaudhuri said students should not be disadvantaged of a convocation ceremony. “The process involved a lot of planning and technology implementation,” he said. With two months contribution and hard work of a team of 20 resulted in making the virtual convocation a reality. The event live telecasted on DD Sahyadri Channel, Institute’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Live telecasts commenced with speeches and one student saw each from different categories collecting medals and degrees virtually with their names and photos. A mobile application is designed specially only for IIT Bombay students in which they can see their animated personalized avatars graduating and getting his or her degree. IIT Bombay has taken the health of the students as their first priority besides understanding their needs and emotions. “The Institute thought it best to arrange such a VR-convocation for the graduating students so as not to put their health at risk but at the same time, not deprive them of the sense of achievement and pride of passing out of India’s premier engineering Institute,” IIT-Bombay said. By seeing IIT Bombay’s great Innovation, in his speech, Stephen A. Schwarzman said, “India occupies a unique position in the world today, especially when it comes to technology, where it has established global leadership through its talent. Of the 72 Indian-origin engineers who have founded unicorns across the world, 50 per cent are IIT alumni. IIT engineers are defining the global technology landscape and the newest alumni will be the next generation of future global leaders who will advance that mission”. He further said, with a young, ambitious and tech-savvy population, a forward-thinking government that supports entrepreneurship, and the fourth-largest start-up ecosystem in the world, India is poised to stake its claim as one of the world’s great innovation hubs.” Virtual Reality is a wonderful and innovative technology that is able to spread smiles on IIT Bombay graduates without depriving them from their achievements.



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