Flexible Rib Cages Help Baird’s Beaked Whale Survive Extreme Compression

Its rib cage bends under pressure that would crush metal.

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Pressure increases by roughly one atmosphere every 10 meters in seawater.

To withstand immense hydrostatic pressure during deep dives, Baird’s beaked whales possess flexible thoracic structures that allow controlled lung compression without structural damage.

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At depths approaching two miles, air-filled spaces would normally implode, yet this flexibility prevents catastrophic injury while minimizing nitrogen absorption.

This biological engineering parallels advanced submersible design, showing how evolution solved high-pressure survival challenges long before humans attempted to explore the abyss.

Source

Smithsonian Ocean Portal

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