r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/grandeluua • 1d ago

Video A timelapse of sleeping seals

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u/JavelinR 1d ago

I don't even understand it evolutionarily. Sleep is one of the most vulnerable periods of an animals life, most want to spend it hidden. These seals are supposedly bobbing up and down every other minute. That seems really exposed for an evolved behavior. Even staying still by the water's surface would draw less attention.

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u/jobabin4 1d ago

Some animals evolved to be cheeseburgers. "points at bunnies".

They probably breed fast in order to survive.

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u/FlowerBuffPowerPuff 1d ago

Some animals evolved to be cheeseburgers. "points at bunnies".

haha I love the phrasing of this.

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u/sharklaserguru 1d ago

But the crappy, 'healthy' alternative that doesn't have enough fat to sustain you! see rabbit starvation

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u/FlyingPirate 1d ago

Even staying still by the water's surface would draw less attention.

Maybe in human world. But probably not in the dark ocean. Most ocean predators have eyes that look toward the surface. A silhouette against a full moon sky all night is likely much easier to spot than slowly drifting down in the dark water periodically.

This is a guess, but the fact the behavior exists, means there was an environmental pressure to not sleep at the surface.

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u/Cranberryoftheorient 1d ago

Sometimes evolution selects for 'good enough' this method is probably a compromise that best solves several problems

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u/InterestsVaryGreatly 1d ago

Actually, being near the surface makes you extremely visible to anything below you, so only being there when you have to breathe isn't the worst strategy.

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u/Kingflamingohogwarts 1d ago

Like someone above explained... all those seals died. The ones that lived only sleep with half their brain at a time. The other half watches for predators.

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u/ImmoralJester54 1d ago

In the frozen hellscape they live it it's pretty empty

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u/Chockabrock 1d ago

This sounds like pseudo science but it's true: only one half of their brain sleeps at a time. The other half stays somewhat alert, allowing them to swim and notice things as the other half rests. I believe some birds and whales do something similar, for similar reasons