Northern elephant seals are the second-largest seals. The males have huge noses like an elephant’s trunk! Sometimes, these seals are on sand. They fight and raise babies there. The animals also snooze for about 10 hours each day.
However, the seals spend more time in the water. The animals are in the ocean for about eight months. They catch fish. But when do they catch Z’s?
Jessica Kendall-Bar led a study to find out. She and her team worked with seals in Año Nuevo State Park. That’s in California. The experts used tags to track the seals.
Kendall-Bar found a way to record a seal’s brain waves. That info shows when the seal is asleep. “We used the same sensors you’d use for a human,” Kendall-Bar said. The team added a cap to keep water away.
The study showed how seals sleep at sea. The animals sometimes rest on the seafloor. But in the ocean deeps, they take naps while diving! The seals dive and enter a deep sleep. They turn upside-down. They sink in a spiral pattern, like a falling leaf.
These naps don’t last long. The seals sleep in bursts of about 10 minutes. And altogether, they get about two hours each day! That’s less than most . The seals are up against African elephants for who sleeps the least. Elephants also get about 2 hours.
Elephant seals hold their breath while sleeping. After all, they are under water! The researchers have an idea about why the seals nap so deep. The surface of the ocean is more dangerous. Sharks or killer whales could eat the seals.
Kendall-Bar plans to study other animals. What more can she learn about snores?
Updated April 26, 2023, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Ashley Morgan
