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Which Mammal Dives the Deepest?

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Quick Answer

Cuvier's beaked whale holds the mammal diving record, reaching a depth of 2,992 metres and staying underwater for more than three and a half hours.

The Full Story

Cuvier's beaked whale is a medium-sized whale about 6 to 7 metres long that lives in deep waters around the world. In a 2014 study off Southern California, a tagged whale dove to 2,992 metres, the deepest dive ever recorded for a mammal. A 2020 study reported another individual staying underwater for 222 minutes, or 3 hours and 42 minutes. The whales survive by storing oxygen in their blood and muscles, slowing their heart rate and letting their lungs collapse under pressure. They hunt squid and deep-sea fish in the darkness.

Key Facts

1.Sperm whales also dive beyond 2,000 metres but are less extreme than Cuvier's beaked whales.
2.Mass strandings of beaked whales have been linked to military sonar.
3.Their muscles contain very high levels of the oxygen-storing protein myoglobin.

YouTube Angle

Suggested video title for this topic:

"The whale that holds its breath for nearly four hours."