Rare Photos How Do Sperm Whales Sleep In The Ocean

Did you know, animals like penguins, sea lions and seals if they were tired and wanted to sleep, of course, they would go ashore to sleep. But what about those animals in the ocean, animals that can’t go ashore to rest and sleep like blue whales and sperm whales, stingrays and manta rays, sharks and dolphins? How do they sleep?

Image credits: uwphotographers.net

Underwater photographer Franco Banfi has found the answer to this question. He has been able to capture rare shots of sleeping sperm whales in the Caribbean Sea, off the island of Dominica.

Franco watched a herd of sperm whales in the sea for a long time, when suddenly all the animals stopped moving. They stopped and together assumed a vertical resting position.

In fact, this behavior was first documented back in 2008. Then a team of biologists from Japan and the UK accidentally stumbled upon the same group of sperm whales, which rested motionless under water.

On average, sperm whales spend 7% of their lives hibernating. They rest, thus, for 6-24 minutes with short breaks.

Image credits: banfi.ch

The researchers concluded that sperm whales hold the record for the shortest total sleep time among mammals. In addition, it turned out that during sleep, both hemispheres of the brain cease their activity simultaneously, and not alternately, as was previously believed, based on data from other cetaceans.