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this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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Yes, it is true. The thing being triggered by the cold water on the face is known as the Mammalian Diving Response.
It's purpose isn't to wake you up exactly, but to prepare the body to use intrinsic oxygen (the oxygen already inside your body) as efficiently as possible.
The physiological changes this causes however, also wake you up.
The article you linked doesn’t discuss how the DR evolved, but it seems more likely to result from the occasional risk of submersion faced by most land animals, rather than something they all inherited from fish (who neither breathe nor sleep).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_in_fish
Seems more likely than...an adaptation evolved when land animals and marine animals diverged before the distinction happened?
Ok.
Is it accurate to say fish don't breathe? I've seen fish gulp at water to (presumably) push over their gills. Seems kind of like breathing to me.
I’d just call that respiration. Every definition of breathing I can find is particular to lungs.
Edit: Actually, that’s not true—I found a dictionary that lists a broader metaphorical usage that encompasses all respiration (including plants and fish).