Whales are marine mammals and part of the cetacean family, which consists of over 80 species.
It is known that all mammals, including marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises, require water to survive.
However, understanding exactly how these mammals remove consumed salt water from their body has been debated by scientists and marine biologists for years.
This isn’t fully understood that the salt in the seawater can cause a mammal’s body to become dehydrated and can cause internal damage, kidney failure, and even death.
Humans are encouraged to drink bottled water when at sea and avoid taking in ocean water due to the high quantities of salt in the sea.
One commonly held assumption as to how whales acquire their water involves whales indirectly consuming water that they extract from the sea creatures (fish, squid, octopus) they consume since many of the sea creatures and animals they eat already contain water within their bodies.
By consuming the water within their prey’s body, it’s possible that they can avoid taking in some of the salt they would otherwise ingest.
Some of the most common sea species whales eat include fish, krill, plankton, and squid, among other sea animals.
For whales to consume water without accidentally taking water into their lungs and drowning, their oxygen passage which is located where the blowhole is, and their food passage which is located where their mouth is, are separated to prevent whales from accidentally ingesting water into their lungs when they consume their prey.
Unfortunately, the study on how whales consume water has not been seriously studied, so there is no conclusive evidence to verify precisely how whales get most of their water.
As to how whales can drink salt water without suffering from kidney damage, some scientists believe that whales have a filtering system.
It allows them to excrete extra salt from their body through urine while preserving purified water consumed with their prey.
This filtration system is considered more advanced in marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises than land mammals, as all mammals require clean water to survive.
Mammals (such as humans and other land animals) that swallow too much salt water have the possibility of sustaining kidney damage due to the acidic properties of concentrated salt in the water, therefore having an efficient filtration system becomes vital for allowing whales to take in and excrete saltwater without suffering negative consequences.
In addition to kidney damage, without a sound filtration system, whales could also suffer from dehydration, issues with blood pressure, muscle cramps, and loss of bodily fluids, among other topics.
As of now, an adapted filtration system is just one possible factor for allowing whales to consume salt water.
However, it shows merit in how whales can continuously consume high quantities of salt without suffering adverse side effects.