Posted by Sven on April 19, 2004 at 07:37:21:
In Reply to: Re: carcass of a 47-foot-long fin whale stuck on ship bow posted by Sven on April 16, 2004 at 14:55:40:
Found a number of answers to the question, a summary was "According to Scientific American, observations of captured bottlenose dolphins, and of whales and dolphins in the wild, show two basic methods of sleeping: resting quietly in the water, vertically or horizontally, or sleeping while swimming slowly next to another animal."
The explanation included "While sleeping, the bottlenose dolphin shuts down only half of its brain, along with the opposite eye. The other half of the brain stays awake at a low level of alertness." ... neat trick.
And also the statement "Although still a matter of debate, most researchers believe a dolphin or whale must be conscious and alert to recognise that its blowhole is at the surface." which addresses my reason for asking about being hit because it was asleep at the surface.
The source -Sven