Whales Breathe Oxygen

  When I was young and first learned that whale's breath oxygen, I remember being worried for them. I worried they would realize they need another deep breath of air when they were to deep into the sea to make it up toward the surface in time. I worried they spent most of their life with that ache in their lungs that holding your breath causes.
  After a sperm whale takes a breath of air, she can stay under water for up to two hours. I actually thought it was longer than that. I imagined whales taking breaths and not returning to the surface until the next day. The reason the whale can open it's large whale mouth while still breathing underwater is because it's trachea is not connected to it's mouth. Instead, it is only connected to the whale's mighty blow hole. (Thanks to this ehow article for the whale info.)
  Here is a new whale diorama I recently finished. She is in the midst of using her blow hole.