Whales Can Get The Bends, Too shorts science scishow

Researchers believe that whales have developed a clever way to avoid the bends. When they dive, they collapse their lungs to prevent too much nitrogen from entering their bloodstream and causing the bends. This is especially useful for whales that dive frequently. Instead of holding air in their lungs, they can divert it to their upper airway, which functions much like a nose. This allows the air to be moved back to the lungs as they ascend slowly and avoid the bends. However, if they are startled and take in a gasp of air, the air could still cause the bends. Therefore, diving requires concentration even for whales.