Beaked whale is deep-dive champion (BBC)

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

Cuvier's beaked whales are likely to be the most extreme breath-holders among marine mammals.

Satellite tags attached to these animals, swimming off the coast of California, recorded a dive to nearly 3km below the ocean surface, and one that lasted 137 minutes.

This performance exceeds that for any southern elephant seal, which is also known to be an extreme breath-holder.

The Cuvier's record-breaking dives are reported in the journal Plos One.

Erin Falcone is a research biologist with the Cascadia Research Collective in Washington State, US, which led the research project.
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more: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26743090
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0092633