Readers ask about Cuvier’s beaked whales, microbes in the atmosphere and more

Waiting to exhale

Cuvier’s beaked whales may rely on large stores of oxygen, a slow metabolism and the ability to tolerate lactic acid to dive for hours without surfacing for air, Erin Garcia de Jesus reported in “A beaked whale’s nearly four-hour-long dive sets a new record” (SN: 11/7/20, p.