When at sea, Northern elephant seals only sleep a total of two hours , divided into 20-minute intervals at any given time during the day. They do this to stay alert and avoid any dangerous predators. How exactly do they do this? Northern elephant seals sleep in a 20-minute interval by first diving 60 to 100 meter deep (260 to 300 feet) under water. Then it slowly goes into a glide and holds itself in an upright position as it dozes off. After that, the seal goes into a stage called RMB where the seal’s body is paralyzed, and it slowly drifts in a spiral motion to the sea floor far from where its predators roam.
Tracking the sleep patterns of Northern elephant seals is important in many ways. “It’s important to map these extremes of [sleep behavior] across the animal kingdom,” says Jessica Kendall-Bar . We should understand these sleeping habits so we can protect the seal sleep areas. Tracking their sleep also gives us information like how long they sleep everyday and how deep they go. This information can help us understand other species of seals and their sleep habits. Northern elephant seals are “the true masters of the power nap” (Maria Temming) and knowing their way of sleeping is important because it helps us know that there is a new rival in town for the mammal with the shortest amount of sleep a day.
Northern elephant seals only sleep for two hours a day, so they have a lot of time in the day to do other things. Well, what do they do? Northern elephant seals hunt for food in the Pacific Ocean around the clock. They hunt fish, squid, and other types of food. When the seals are not hunting for food or taking a short power nap, they may be taking an 11 hour nap while mating and molting on the beach. On the beach, the seals don’t have to worry about predators eating them. “What the seals are doing [at the beach] might be something like what we do when we sleep in on the weekend,” Rattenborg says . They might sleep longer than any human sleeps on the weekend.
Whether it is sleeping at sea or on the beach, Northern elephant seals are always trying to stay safe from predators. What would your life be if you only slept a total of two hours each day in 20 minute intervals? Then try sleeping for 11 hours on the weekends. That is a Northern elephant seals life.
Tracking the sleep patterns of Northern elephant seals is important in many ways. “It’s important to map these extremes of [sleep behavior] across the animal kingdom,” says Jessica Kendall-Bar . We should understand these sleeping habits so we can protect the seal sleep areas. Tracking their sleep also gives us information like how long they sleep everyday and how deep they go. This information can help us understand other species of seals and their sleep habits. Northern elephant seals are “the true masters of the power nap” (Maria Temming) and knowing their way of sleeping is important because it helps us know that there is a new rival in town for the mammal with the shortest amount of sleep a day.
Northern elephant seals only sleep for two hours a day, so they have a lot of time in the day to do other things. Well, what do they do? Northern elephant seals hunt for food in the Pacific Ocean around the clock. They hunt fish, squid, and other types of food. When the seals are not hunting for food or taking a short power nap, they may be taking an 11 hour nap while mating and molting on the beach. On the beach, the seals don’t have to worry about predators eating them. “What the seals are doing [at the beach] might be something like what we do when we sleep in on the weekend,” Rattenborg says . They might sleep longer than any human sleeps on the weekend.
Whether it is sleeping at sea or on the beach, Northern elephant seals are always trying to stay safe from predators. What would your life be if you only slept a total of two hours each day in 20 minute intervals? Then try sleeping for 11 hours on the weekends. That is a Northern elephant seals life.