Sea ponies: do they need to breathe air or not?

[Marigold]

They can do both because they are pony equivalents of mermaids.

[StarDapple]

I think they breathe both air and water.

[wizzer218]

I am also going with air! ......I played with them like that as a kid.....just like a dolphine...hehe

[Summerlycoris]

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.

[Rachel-Eyes]

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.

[StarlightGaze]

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.

[Whippycorn]

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!

 

[DarthEquus]

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.

[Whippycorn]

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! 

[achab1984]

I would say yes they need to breath like Dolphins

[hathorcat]

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.

[applejackbunny]

Biological possibilities aside, sea ponies are imaginary magical talking sea ponies, so they can probably breathe in whatever they want! 

This 

[NinaMarie]

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.

[HollowZero]

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.

[Brightglowpony]

I always imagined they could do both