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See Amazing Photographs of Sleeping Sperm Whales

It isn’t often that people give a thought to how sperm whales sleep, and when the question is raised, no-one really knew how to answer – until now. Professional underwater photographer, Franco Banfi, snapped a few extremely rare photos of a pod of sperm whales in a synchronized vertical sleep. He was following the pod off Dominica Island in the Caribbean Sea.
 

This behavior was first captured on camera back in 2008. An Anglo-Japanese team of biologists drifted into a group of completely still whales completely by chance, and further research determined that this astonishing behavior accounts for approximately 7% of a sperm whale’s life. They take their vertical naps in short intervals of 6-24 minutes.

Scroll down to view Banfi’s surreal images and enjoy a video of this extremely rare event:

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Diver Sabrina Belloni accompanied Banfi during this amazing event.
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The sperm whales just float in the water for 6-24 minutes at a time.
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These images highlight the size of these immense creatures.
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Sabrina gets particularly close to this sleeping sperm whale. 
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This is only the second known time that sperm whales have been captured asleep on film.
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A mother and a calf can be seen in the foreground of this picture.
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BONUS: Watch this stunning video of the sperm whales in stasis: 
 
Content and image source: BoredPanda
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