Elephant seals don’t need a hypnotist to spiral them deep into sleep: New research reveals that these marine mammals take deep, spiraling dives to catch a few short power naps every day while on long ocean voyages — so few that they might be the recorder-holders for sleep deprivation among mammals during these periods.
“That’s pretty much unparalleled compared to any other mammal,” says Jessica Kendall-Bar, a marine biologist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
Do All Mammals Sleep?
All mammals need sleep, even if it’s minimal. Until recently, the record holder for sleep deprivation was the African elephant, some of which can get by with about two hours of sleep a day.
