Sleep is an important biological process for people and animals. However, much remains unknown about the process. Humans spend about one third of their lives sleeping. But some mammals, like the northern elephant seal, survive with much less sleep. Researchers in a new study described the unusual sleep pattern of these ocean animals. They found that when these mammals go to feed on trips that can last seven months, they sleep just two hours. Those two hours of sleep are made up of short moments of rest lasting only 10 minutes each as they dive deep to avoid predators. The only other mammals known to get so little sleep are African elephants. The seals’ sleep time during ocean trips is different from the 10 hours a day they spend sleeping on the coast during mating season at places like California’s Ao Nuevo beach.