You might think that you barely slept at all when you wake up in the morning, but can you compare how much you sleep with the Northern Elephant Seals?
Northern elephant seals swim at sea for months with only brief breaks at shore. While they’re on these sea voyages, they can only take a 20-minute nap at a time, which leads to an average of only two hours a day. This absurd sleeping schedule comes from the African Elephants, who have the least sleep seen among mammals.
Northern Elephant Seals spend a majority of their year in the Pacific Ocean. When they swim, they hunt for fish and squid and other marine life to feed themselves.
But these seals have predators as well. Sharks and Killer Whales hunt for the elephant seals, who are most vulnerable at the surface of the water. So as a result, the seals only come up for air after a 10 to 30 minute dive below the surface.
When a northern elephant seal wants to sleep at sea, it dives down 60-100 meters in the water and relaxes into a glide. The seal keeps holding itself upright as it falls asleep. After that, the seal falls into REM sleep. During this stage, the seal becomes paralyzed.
These Northern Elephant Seals aren’t the only animals that can adapt to this complicated sleep schedule. Great Frigate Birds sleep on the flight. When they fly over oceans, they sleep at least one hour a day. However, when they land on shore, they sleep for 12 hours.
Northern Elephant Seals survive without using the one-sided brain technique most marine animals use. This method allows one side of the brain to rest while the other half stays active, and by switching back and forth, most marine animals can stay up all the time.
Northern Elephant Seals are the true masters of power naps. No animal sleeps less!
Northern elephant seals swim at sea for months with only brief breaks at shore. While they’re on these sea voyages, they can only take a 20-minute nap at a time, which leads to an average of only two hours a day. This absurd sleeping schedule comes from the African Elephants, who have the least sleep seen among mammals.
Northern Elephant Seals spend a majority of their year in the Pacific Ocean. When they swim, they hunt for fish and squid and other marine life to feed themselves.
But these seals have predators as well. Sharks and Killer Whales hunt for the elephant seals, who are most vulnerable at the surface of the water. So as a result, the seals only come up for air after a 10 to 30 minute dive below the surface.
When a northern elephant seal wants to sleep at sea, it dives down 60-100 meters in the water and relaxes into a glide. The seal keeps holding itself upright as it falls asleep. After that, the seal falls into REM sleep. During this stage, the seal becomes paralyzed.
These Northern Elephant Seals aren’t the only animals that can adapt to this complicated sleep schedule. Great Frigate Birds sleep on the flight. When they fly over oceans, they sleep at least one hour a day. However, when they land on shore, they sleep for 12 hours.
Northern Elephant Seals survive without using the one-sided brain technique most marine animals use. This method allows one side of the brain to rest while the other half stays active, and by switching back and forth, most marine animals can stay up all the time.
Northern Elephant Seals are the true masters of power naps. No animal sleeps less!
