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cristobal | 23:53 Thu 28th Oct 2004 | Animals & Nature
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Do whales need to drink fresh water as they are a mamal?
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Whales do drink some sea-water with their food.  However, they have very large kidneys, so (unlike us) are able to produce urine which is saltier than sea-water -- therefore they can safely drink sea-water.  If we tried that, we'd have to produce more urine than the water we drank, and would soon die of dehydration.

 

Most sea mammals are similar, though there are some sea-living ones which do need fresh water.  For example, the European otter lives in rivers, but many individuals also live on the foreshore.  These sea-living otters must return to fresh water every day to drink and bathe (they are of course not the proper sea-otter, which is a different, full-time marine mammal from the Pacific).

 

Yeah, they haul their massive bodies out of the sea unaided, and make their way to the nearest tap or pond where they consume as much fresh water as they need. I hear Orcas are quite partial to mineral water.

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