• Question: why can not we breath in water/

    Asked by anon-354680 on 8 Mar 2023.
    • Photo: Maria Price

      Maria Price answered on 8 Mar 2023:

      Over many thousands of years, animals evolved to live on land and not in water, and the evolution of humans eventually came out of that. Most simply we can’t breathe in water because we don’t need to. However, when we develop in the womb, there is a point very early on that we have slits/gills in the neck due to shared DNA with fish and other animals, but these disappear through the rest of development

    • Photo: John Clark-Corrigall

      John Clark-Corrigall answered on 10 Mar 2023:

      Like Maria has said, we evolved to breathe on land and that meant the genetic need for that ability wasn’t passed on to subsequent generations. But we do have some reflexes which mean we hold our breath. Babies up until 6months have a dive reflex where they hold their breath underwater, I’ve seen this in the controlled environment of a water babies class when I was a swimming teacher. So can’t breathe underwater but instinctively hold their breath!!

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