Northern elephant seals might be masters of multitasking in the animal kingdom because they’ve learned how to sleep and dive at the same time — all while avoiding predators
. The elephant seals can spend seven or eight months on foraging trips in the North Pacific Ocean and travel for thousands of miles away from land, which led researchers to question how and where the marine mammals sleep in the high seas. A new study, involving seals fitted with caps similar to those worn by humans in sleep clinics, revealed that the seals sneak in short naps during deep dives while holding their breath.
Then she attached them to 13 juvenile female elephant seals that are part of a colony at Año Nuevo State Park in Pescadero, California. The sensor-wearing seals were also released on a beach at the southern end of Monterey Bay. As they swam back to Año Nuevo and crossed the deep Monterey Canyon, researchers gathered data on their diving behavior. “I spent a lot of time watching sleeping seals,” Kendall-Bar said.
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