How do whales and dolphins sleep without drowning? : Scientific American

I didn't know such mechanisms exist. Turning of half the brain and one eye. How crazy can nature be ?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-do-whales-and-dolphin&print=true --- While sleeping, the bottlenose dolphin shuts down only half of its brain, along with the opposite eye. The other half of the brain stays awake at a low level of alertness. This attentive side is used to watch for predators, obstacles and other animals. It also signals when to rise to the surface for a fresh breath of air. After approximately two hours, the animal will reverse this process, resting the active side of the brain and awaking the rested half. This pattern is often called cat-napping.

Attaching an audio which was the original source of this search : A moment of science