The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: LadyMoondancer on April 28, 2013, 11:55:59 AM
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What do you think? Obviously sea ponies can surface, but do they need air, or is it optional?
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I think they are like dolphins...they are ponies and thereby mammals so it should work as with wales and dolphins I think.
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I never even considered this... But I think it's possible that they're more like dolphins than fish. :)
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I'm going with that they need air, like dolphins and other sea mammals. :)
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If I recall correctly, seahorses don't need to reach the surface for air... they are pretty sedentary and stay perched near the bottom. So I'd think sea ponies would be the same? :)
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it's more fun if they are like mermaids and can breathe water as well as air. That way they can have a town under the water where they all live and play.
It's not something the writers of the show or the creaters of the MLP world have really thought about so it can be however you like :)
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I think they would need to breathe air like dolphins. They are mammals, they have nostrils and no gills.
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I am saying they gon't only because they were shown to live ner the bottom and not have to surface regukarly. Only when they chose to.
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it's more fun if they are like mermaids and can breathe water as well as air. That way they can have a town under the water where they all live and play.
It's not something the writers of the show or the creaters of the MLP world have really thought about so it can be however you like :)
Agreed--they're like mermaids.
Post Merge: April 28, 2013, 01:13:40 PM
Though the fact that babies have floatie rings might suggest otherwise.
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Dude, they have blowholes!!
Haha, well, perhaps that wasn't exactly the intention for that little hole, but that's always what I pictured!
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I forgot about the floaty rings :)
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Might they be amphibious? However, I'm in throwing my lot in with the mammal idea for now.
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Awesome question! I've never thought about it before.... I'm going with the dolphin theory though. :)
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Another thing-The idea of their bodies feeling like a dolphin sounds nicer to me than the idea of them being fishy or amphibious. Soft and slick instead of slimy! Just my two bits though!
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I believe they are like mud puppies and can breathe both air AND water.
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They can do both because they are pony equivalents of mermaids.
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I think they breathe both air and water.
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I am also going with air! :biggrin:......I played with them like that as a kid.....just like a dolphine...hehe :P
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I think they're like frogs- they can breathe underwater through gills (I'm sure I remember seeing gills on seaponies before...) and they can breathe on land through their noses and mouths. :)
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I've always liked the idea that they were seal-like and not only do they breathe air, but also have the ability to come out of the water and rest on the shore!
Maybe this isn't canon with the G1 cartoon, but I like the idea with the toys. I took some cute pictures of my Sea Ponies just resting beside a pond, without actually being in it.
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They can sing underwater, so I'd say they can breathe underwater too. Although I like the idea of them being able to breathe air or water.
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Here's the way I see it.
They do not have internal or external gills, so they are neither like fish nor like salamanders.
They do not have a slime covered body and so cannot supplement breathing through their skin like frogs.
These indications (plus the fact that they have nostrils) indicate lungs like dolphins.
I don't think they can 'breathe both air and water' because the physiological structure of lungs does not allow for this.
They can sing underwater because they can breathe out to sing but not inhale.
I like to think they have a broader set of communication similar to dolphins and whales (clicks and whistles etc). 'Shoobeedoo' isn't words, it's whale song!
:P
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If they exhale to sing, they are expending all their air and therefore would need to replenish it between verses.
Perhaps they don't have gills, but it sounds most logical to me that they are able to get oxygen from both air and water, whichever way it may be possible.
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Hhm...whales can actually sing without exhaling, but they don't empty their lungs every time they exhale either. They can hold their breath for aaaages too, singing, exhaling some and continuing to 'hold' the rest. Whales are awesome. :)
Sea ponies, like whales, could just have a epic set of lungs!
Biological possibilities aside, sea ponies are imaginary magical talking sea ponies, so they can probably breathe in whatever they want! :lol:
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I would say yes they need to breath like Dolphins :)
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I am going with the mammals/dolphins theory.
As we see them with their heads out of the water more than under it in the comics, etc - so they must be breathing oxygen.
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Biological possibilities aside, sea ponies are imaginary magical talking sea ponies, so they can probably breathe in whatever they want! :lol:
This :)
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Ok I had an interesting dream last night. I dreamt going to a thrift store and finding a G1 coloring book and some little catalogues. The catalogues talked about the sea ponies and how they have to come up for air even though they can stay underwater for ages.
So apparently my brain believes that seaponies cannot breathe water. I sure wish that dream was true and I found those neat things.
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I suppose no one in this thread knows this, but fish can breathe straight air if they come to the surface. Seaponies are most likely the equivalent of frogs--they need the water to live (they eat, sleep, whatever in the water) and to keep their skin protected, but can also breathe air whenever needed.
Somehow, I don't think Hasbro thought about this when they were created, though. :P
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I always imagined they could do both :lol:
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They don't breathe!
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Seeing as they have nostrils like other ponies, I'd say they need to breathe air. :)
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Sharks have nostrils.
I think sea ponies can breathe but underwater and in the open air. It would give them the advantage of reaching vegetation on the water's edge.
I also think sea ponies can balance on the surface until adolescence. That's why baby sea ponies need floats to be on the surface.
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In the magic coins episode where the sea ponies nearly died when the lake dried up, they were keeping them moist in buckets with damp clothes
If they were gill breathers they would have died straight away when the water was gone, as fish do, so either they are air breathers or capable of doing both.
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They're definitely dolphin-esque, no signs of gills at all on the toys, I don't remember the cartoons but... yeah, I'd say have to breath oxygen from the air.
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I also think sea ponies can balance on the surface until adolescence. That's why baby sea ponies need floats to be on the surface.
I like this idea a lot! It's like they growing their metal tail weights is all a part of puberty.
On that note, I'd actually kind of love to see some awkward Sea Pony teenagers. They'd be slender like the Sweetheart Sisters and have freckles and things because they are awkward and their weights would be positioned so that they float in a leaning fashion, like they are just learning to swim without their floats. Random I know, but I'd still love to see it!
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Hollowzero, only a few species (e.g. lungfish) can breather straight air. Most fish can only breathe by passing water (or air at a push) over moist gills. As soon as the gills dry out they suffocate. And fish like sharks have to keep moving to keep enough water flowing through their gills.
Yes, sharks do have nostrils that have nothing to do with breathing...but all the other indications (like lack of gills) points to seaponies being lung-breathing mammals. :)
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I'm going with the mermaid thing on this. In the first special, the sea ponies save Meagan and Applejack by bringing them a bubble of air that carried them up, also giving them breathing air. This indicates they are magical. Now, all ponies are somewhat magical, being sentient and Technicolor, but the sea ponies seem to have more magic. They can contain air, even in that raging river, in a bubble safely and control where the bubble ascends. They automatically sense when one of their shells is tossed into water to summon them, and seem to be able to get to that location whether or not it's connected to their home body of water. It's likely that salt/fresh water changes don't affect them either, since they're shown in fresh water all the time in the cartoon, but have ocean and sea affiliated names. How would they know about those things if they were locked into fresh water habitats? They're also shown being able to stay submerged for a very long period of time, and when they rescued Megan and Applejack, didn't need any more air of their own, despite a choreographed song and dance number. So, I'm going with "mermaid magic" for their breathing requirements. Mermaids can breathe water and air fine, are usually depicted without gills, and they just prefer to stay in water.
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Actually... there are some species of sharks that do not need to move to pass water over their gills. Fish do not need to move to do this either... the RAM ventillation that some sharks- pelagic sharks, like great whites, etc - use, does require moving water to pass over their gills to breath. But a fish won't die if you hold it down in one spot underwater. As long as there's decent oxygen available in the water, and the gills are submerged, the fish can breath. :)
There's a saying - Drink like a fish? Well that only applies to Salt-Water Fish. Freshwater fish pee, Saltwater fish drink (to deal with osmotic balances)... so, FW Fish don't need to really "take in water" or move it to breath.
WOW SORRY FISH BIOLOGIST HERE. I'm nerding out! :biggrin:
But as Aitsuki mentioned - I'd still say they're dolphin-esque, but of course magical too! :)
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I think they're like frogs- they can breathe underwater through gills (I'm sure I remember seeing gills on seaponies before...) and they can breathe on land through their noses and mouths. :)
frogs don't have gills, ma'am.
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I wrote sea ponies into a tabletop roleplaying campaign and they can breathe on both air and land like a mermaid but they're restricted to water when it comes to movement (except the queen who has kelpie traits and can grow back legs.)
I always thought that they were like mermaids and can do both.
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I think they can breathe air and water :)
Post Merge: April 30, 2013, 11:35:57 AM
Remember the episode "The Magic Coins"? The sea ponies didn't have any water and Molly and Danny carried them around looking for water so they can obviously be outside of the water for a long time :)
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Sunshinepony, I didn't know some sharks can do that! (just to clarify, i wasn't suggesting any other fish need to keep swimming to breathe ;))
But, yeah, that's really interesting! *googles* ooh, buccal pumping versus ram ventilation...we only got told about sharks doing ram ventilation. *scowls at lecturers* :mad:
Do you work on sharks? I have a friend who works on basking sharks, which I think is super cool. :)
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I remember an episode of "My Little Pony and Friends" where the sea ponies were trapped under the ice. They didn't have any problems breathing then and guided the ponies to a far off destination from under the ice.
I would guess mermaid magic. Maybe they don't even need oxygen.
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Sunshinepony, I didn't know some sharks can do that! (just to clarify, i wasn't suggesting any other fish need to keep swimming to breathe ;))
But, yeah, that's really interesting! *googles* ooh, buccal pumping versus ram ventilation...we only got told about sharks doing ram ventilation. *scowls at lecturers* :mad:
Do you work on sharks? I have a friend who works on basking sharks, which I think is super cool. :)
Ah misread the fishy part! My bad :)
No, I don't work on sharks but, I work on some very similar ancient freshwater fish like sturgeon (which are very shark-looking, minus the whole... giant mouth full of teeth that many sharks have) - but if I had to work in saltwater I'd definitely work with sharks!
Sea ponies need their Mermaid-magic-ness or else I think sharks would eat them! Oh nooooo! :P
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Sea ponies need their Mermaid-magic-ness or else I think sharks would eat them! Oh nooooo! :P
Maybe they're on good terms with the sharks. Or just stay out of San Jose.
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I remember an episode of "My Little Pony and Friends" where the sea ponies were trapped under the ice. They didn't have any problems breathing then and guided the ponies to a far off destination from under the ice.
I know that there is a mammal... I forget what, than can swim under ice for days. It breathes by sticking its mouth on the ice itself and inhaling the outside air through the ice. Maybe Sea Ponies can do that too?
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I remember an episode of "My Little Pony and Friends" where the sea ponies were trapped under the ice. They didn't have any problems breathing then and guided the ponies to a far off destination from under the ice.
I know that there is a mammal... I forget what, than can swim under ice for days. It breathes by sticking its mouth on the ice itself and inhaling the outside air through the ice. Maybe Sea Ponies can do that too?
Is it a Narwhal you're thinking of? :)
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Maybe, or some kind of seal?