How Long Can Different Mammals Hold their Breath?

The curvier’ s beaked whale can hold its breath for longest at 222 minutes, while the sperm whale can hold its breath for 120 minutes. The Weddell seal can hold its breath for 60 minutes. The Weddell seal’s time isn’t as impressive as the whales’, but it can still hold its breath for 60 times the amount of humans.

Marine mammals can have three times as much blood as humans. This extra blood contains more red blood cells for transporting oxygen around the body. They can also store oxygen in their organs and muscles. These are great ways for the marine mammals to hold their breath, but they have one more strategy: marine mammals can slow down their heartbeat, some from a hundred and twenty to four to six beats per minute.

The two whales spend their entire life in the ocean and seize the top two breathing times, but the orca, who also spends its whole life in the ocean, is in the lowest three times.