How long can whales hold their breath?

Breath-Holding Abilities Across Whale Species

As air-breathing mammals, whales must return to the surface to breathe. However, they have evolved extraordinary adaptations that allow them to hold their breath far longer than any land mammal. Dive durations vary widely by species, from about 10 minutes for some baleen whales to over 3 hours for certain beaked whales.

Breath-Holding Records by Species

Species	Typical Dive Duration	Maximum Recorded
Cuvier’s beaked whale	60 min	222 min (3.7 hours)
Sperm whale	45-60 min	~90 min
Bottlenose whale	30-60 min	~70 min
Humpback whale	15-30 min	~45 min
Blue whale	10-20 min	~30 min
Gray whale	5-10 min	~25 min
Orca	5-15 min	~15 min

The Cuvier’s beaked whale holds the all-time mammalian diving record. In 2020, scientists documented a Cuvier’s beaked whale dive lasting 222 minutes — nearly four hours — at depths exceeding 9,800 feet (3,000 meters).

How Whales Hold Their Breath So Long

Whales have several physiological adaptations that enable extended breath-holding:

Oxygen storage: Unlike humans, who store most oxygen in their lungs, whales store the majority of their oxygen in their blood and muscle tissue. Whale blood has a high concentration of hemoglobin, and their muscles are packed with myoglobin — an oxygen-binding protein that gives whale muscle its characteristically dark red color.

Diving reflex: When a whale dives, its heart rate drops dramatically — a phenomenon called bradycardia. A blue whale’s heart rate can slow from around 30 beats per minute at the surface to as few as 2 beats per minute during deep dives. Blood flow is redirected away from non-essential organs to the brain, heart, and muscles.

Collapsible lungs: Whale lungs collapse under the pressure of deep dives, which actually helps prevent nitrogen from dissolving into the blood. This adaptation protects whales from decompression sickness (“the bends”).

Efficient oxygen use: Whales exchange about 80 to 90 percent of the air in their lungs with each breath, compared to only about 10 to 15 percent for humans. This makes each breath far more efficient.

Deep Divers vs. Shallow Divers

Whale species that dive the deepest tend to hold their breath the longest. Sperm whales routinely dive to depths of 3,000 feet (900 meters) to hunt giant squid, staying submerged for 45 to 60 minutes per dive. Beaked whales dive even deeper.

By contrast, baleen whales like humpbacks and blue whales are relatively shallow divers. They feed on krill and small fish in the upper ocean layers and rarely need to dive beyond 500 feet (150 meters).

Breathing at the Surface

When whales surface, they breathe through blowholes on top of their heads. Baleen whales have two blowholes, while toothed whales have one. The explosive exhale — visible as the whale’s “blow” or spout — expels air at speeds up to 300 mph (480 km/h). The visible mist is a combination of water vapor, mucus, and residual seawater.

Most whales take several breaths at the surface before diving again, spending 2 to 5 minutes replenishing their oxygen stores between dives. Understanding these breathing patterns helps explain how whales sleep — they must remain conscious enough to breathe, even while resting.