By: Tristan Chow

Have you ever wondered how you would be if you only slept for 2 hours? Well, on average people sleep over 7 hours a day, and yet sometimes we are still tired! Well, I would like to introduce you to the Northern elephant seal. They get no more than 2 hours of sleep each day due to all of the surrounding predators. In order for them to sleep they must go hundreds of feet deep so no predators can attack them.

These animals hunt for food very often, which also affects their sleeping schedule. Between 30-minute dives they only get a few minutes to breathe. This is also due to the dangers

presented by other animals. A group of scientists wanted to analyze how the animals sleep during their dives. So, they decided that they could attach caps on the Northern elephant seals to track their brain rate. This can check if they are sleeping and are not using the waves.

The data showed that when a northern elephant seal wants to sleep at sea, it will dive 60 to 100 meters below the surface. Then it would proceed to glide the water relaxing itself. The important reason for diving so deep is to avoid predators such as orca whales. After, the seal will go into a stage of rest known as REM sleep. During this sleep stage, the seal’s body becomes paralyzed. As it is paralyzed it would slowly start drifting its way down to the sea floor.

Another reason for going extremely deep is because when they are sleeping they are super vulnerable. Imagine having to worry about getting attacked when you just want to rest! This shows the impressive ability of Northern elephant seals.