Editing Whale (section)

===Sleep===
{{Further|Sleep in animals}}
Unlike most animals, whales are conscious breathers. All mammals sleep, but whales cannot afford to become unconscious for long because they may drown. While knowledge of sleep in wild cetaceans is limited, toothed cetaceans in captivity have been recorded to sleep with one side of their brain at a time, so that they may swim, breathe consciously, and avoid both predators and social contact during their period of rest.{{sfn|Miller et al.|2008|pp=21–23}}

A 2008 study found that sperm whales sleep in vertical postures just under the surface in passive shallow "drift-dives", generally during the day, during which whales do not respond to passing vessels unless they are in contact, leading to the suggestion that whales possibly sleep during such dives.{{sfn|Miller et al.|2008|pp=21–23}}