Hearing all this talks about sharks smelling a drop of blood from a mile away left me wondering where we stand in this field. Can we smell underwater?
A lot of press point to a study showing how star-nosed moles (and possibly other small mammals) are able to smell underwater , but I’m not impressed. To me, their “bubble sniffing” doesn’t address what I really what to know about our ability to smell underwater: some discomfort aside, can water get far enough in our sinuses to pass through the olfactory epithelium without being inhaled?
Is inhalation necessary for olfaction? In a completely submerged environment, can I irrigate water through my nose by manipulating my mouth, tongue and soft palate while still holding my breath? I’m hoping our celebrated population of jala neti practitioners can offer some insight.
What amount of discomfort can be expected if this was done with seawater? What kind of health risks am I taking should I test this at the local tide pool? A colony of coral slowly building a reef behind my face? Zebra mussels?
*upon preview, I feel I should warn those with a weak stomach that the above link does show a photo of a star-nosed mole, a creature which some may find monstrously hideous.
I don’t know whether or not you can smell underwater but I do know that water -among other liquids- can circulate through your sinuses. Ever see the kid who laughs so hard that milk comes out of his nose? Or worse yet have you ever been on the receiving end of soda going through your sinuses? Ouch! Same thing can happen with water though it too is very painful and I cannot recall smelling anything.
well, i regularly neti pot my nose, and while i can smell a sort of salty tang if i sniff over the pot, I dont get a salty smell while i am rinsing, and my sinuses are full of salt water. I am hesitant of making an herbal neti even though I know it is popular to do so, just something makes me reluctant to put tea up my nose… it took me long enough to get up the nerve to run saline through there… [even though I love my little neti pot and even bought one to leave at my moms house for when I am here, and am thinking of buying one and leaving it packed in my luggage just in case I get struck down with the plague while traveling… =)]
Most sinuses do not get signficantly filled with fluids by inhalation or immersion. The nasal passages may get quite flooded, but it generally takes some persistent effort to get liquids into the sinus cavities, which are like large chambers, with very small doors opening onto the nasal passages.
Diligent neti pot use is one possible exception, but even there, most times the passages are cleared but the sinuses don’t get significant rinsing. Personally, only about 1 time in 5 when I use a neti pot do I get a significant infusion of water into my sinuses (as evidenced by my later leaking a few teaspoons of water back out my nose when I bend over).
I don’t smell the salt water in my neti pot either.
The olfactories in mammals are better suited for detecting scent molecules wafting about in a gas mixture, as opposed to the same molecules being dissolved in liquid.