French photographer and filmmaker Stephane Granzotto was studying sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea for his wildlife photo book when he made an extraordinary discovery. It has to do with how these whales sleep. It is believed that Granzotto made this discovery.
When viewed from the surface, these animals appear to be standing because they are resting in a vertical position deep within the ocean. Nobody understood how they slept until a research in 2008 made it clear, and until this photographer, no one had ever observed or recorded this.
They take deep breathes and doze off about 45 feet under the surface of the ocean, according to a National Geographic story about them. And when they do sleep, they do so for around two hours at a period in pods, which are groups of five to six whales.
A study claims that the whales in Chile were dozing off until they were unintentionally awakened by a ship that had its engine off at the time.