Deepest-Diving Marine Animals
Key Findings
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Cuvier's beaked whale leads in Maximum Dive Depth (m) with 2,992.
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Average Maximum Dive Depth (m): 1,889 · median: 2,250.
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Gap: Cuvier's beaked whale is 5.6× larger than Emperor penguin.
About This Dataset
Deepest-Diving Marine Animals
The record dive depths of air-breathing marine animals, in metres. Cuvier's beaked whale holds the record at 2,992 m - nearly 3 kilometres down - the deepest dive ever documented for any mammal or air-breathing animal.
Analysis
The top three in Maximum Dive Depth (m) are Cuvier's beaked whale (2,992), Southern elephant seal (2,388) and Sperm whale (2,250). The 5 entries in Maximum Dive Depth (m) cover a range of 2,458, from 2,992 down to 534. First and second are separated by 604, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. The field is close behind: 3 of the 5 sit at half the leader's figure or above (1,496+).
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- Animal Fun Facts / CSIRO (dive records)
- Coverage
- 5 entities · 5 observations
- Measure
- Maximum Dive Depth (m)
- Last updated
- 6 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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