Deepest-Diving Marine Animals

About This Dataset

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.

✨ AI Insight

Cuvier's beaked whale (2,992 m) is the undisputed champion, diving roughly 600 m deeper than the southern elephant seal (2,388 m) and 740 m deeper than the mighty sperm whale (2,250 m), the classic deep-diver of whaling lore. All three descend to crushing depths where no light penetrates, holding their breath for well over an hour to hunt squid and fish. A clear gap separates these elite mammals from the leatherback turtle (1,280 m), the deepest-diving reptile, and the emperor penguin (534 m), the deepest-diving bird. The ranking shows that extreme diving is overwhelmingly a marine-mammal specialty, driven by adaptations - collapsible lungs, oxygen-rich muscle and slowed heart rates - that let them exploit a food supply hidden thousands of metres below the surface.

Source: Animal Fun Facts / CSIRO (dive records)

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Cuvier's beaked whale leads with 2,992 in All Time.

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Average value in All Time: 1,889 · median: 2,250.

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Gap in All Time: Cuvier's beaked whale is 5.6× larger than Emperor penguin.