Animals / manatee-buoyancy-control
Facts about Manatee Buoyancy Control
- 05
The neutral buoyancy achieved by manatees allows them to rest effortlessly at any depth without continuous swimming effort.
- 04
Passing gas through digestion plays a meaningful role in manatee buoyancy control, as intestinal gas retention or release helps them rise or sink in the water column.
- 03
A manatee's relatively high bone density, known as pachyostosis, acts as ballast to counteract the buoyancy generated by its gas-filled lungs.
- 02
Unlike most mammals, manatees adjust their buoyancy by shifting gas between lung compartments using muscular contractions of the diaphragm.
- 01
Manatees control their buoyancy primarily through their unusually elongated, horizontally oriented lungs, which run along the length of their body cavity.