Which animal can hold its breath the longest?

Cuvier's beaked whale holds the record for being able to hold its breath underwater for a long time, far exceeding human limits .

Cuvier's beaked whale. (Photo: RW Baird/Cascadia Research Collective)

Based on the longest dive ever recorded, the title of animal with the ability to hold its breath the longest belongs to Cuvier's beaked whale. In a five-year study with 23 members of this species, scientists recorded one individual diving and holding its breath for a total of 3 hours and 42 minutes. Compared to it, the human breath-holding record is only 24 minutes and 37 seconds, according to IFL Science . The average dive time for beaked whales in the study was 59 minutes. Only 5% of individuals observed had dives exceeding 1 hour 17.7 minutes.

Many other marine animals have the ability to hold their breath longer than that number. For example, sperm whales typically spend about 1.5 hours underwater before emerging to breathe. In addition to whales, elephant seals are no less capable of holding their breath while diving for up to two hours.

Part of the reason marine mammals can stay underwater for so long is because their muscles are filled with a protein called myoglobin , which stores oxygen and delivers it to muscle cells. Humans also have myoglobin but at a much lower density. In the human body, too much protein close together can clump and cause disease. However, whales, seals. do not have the same problem.

According to a 2012 study, the myoglobin of deep-diving marine mammals is positively charged . "Like like magnets, proteins repel each other ," said Dr. Michael Berenbrink of the University of Liverpool . "In this way, we think animals can have extremely high concentrations of myoglobin proteins in their muscles, avoiding them from sticking together and clogging the muscles."

However, myoglobin may be only partly to blame . Researchers also suspect Cuvier's beaked whales have a low metabolic rate, meaning they don't use up oxygen quickly. When they need to switch to anaerobic respiration, whales have a better tolerance for lactate (a product of cellular metabolism) that accumulates in their muscles.