Countdown: Strangest Animal Sleeping Habits

10. SEALS

As an aquatic mammal, seals spend a lot of time in the agua, so they have to come up with some creative ways to sleep. Earless seals get their winks by taking short snoozes underwater and waking up regularly to surface for air. Meanwhile, eared seals let half their brain sleep allowing one flipper and half their head to do the steering, while the other set takes a rest. Who knew napping could be so much work? 

9. OTTERS

The otter has figured out a slightly easier way to slip into dreamland while surfing the waves. When this cute critter wants to sleep with the fishes, he curls his tail around some seaweed to stay in place and above water. This way he won't wake up to find himself in an entirely different ocean. 

8. SLOTHS

The sloth may have a reputation for laziness, but that doesn't mean this slow-moving creature spends all his time sleeping. Sloths only get about 10 hours of sleep a day, which may sound good to us, but it is far from the highest count in the animal kingdom. When it comes to catching z's, what sets the sloth apart is the position in which they choose to sleep. Since most of their lives are spent hanging from tree limbs, sloths don't bother to change it up when they take a snooze; they dangle from their arms and legs throughout most of their bedtime.

7. KOALAS, BATS, OPOSSUMS

So much for the sloth's bad reputation. Time to find out who is really at the top of the lazy list. Koalas, bats and opossums are the creatures that spend the most time with their eyes closed, with each spending around 20 hours of the day getting an abundance of shuteye. If you happen to catch one of these critters alert and awake, consider yourself lucky.

6. GIRAFFES

After walking around on a set of stilts all day, you'd think a giraffe would get pretty pooped. Apparently not. The giraffe is the mammal that gets the least amount of sleep, averaging 2 to 4 hours a day. When your height offers so much to look at, why waste the view by snoozing?

5. WALRUS

The walrus may have all other aquatic mammals beat when it comes to sleeping while at sea. When this massive animal isn't taking a rest on the shore, he can just blow up his built-in raft and catch some z's in the water. Walruses have air sacs under their throats that, when inflated, can be used to keep them vertical and above water. It's perfect for a nice, wet nap.

4. THE ALBATROSS

Mainly an aquatic bird, albatrosses unfortunately can't afford to take a nap on a water bed. If the bird were to fall asleep at sea, it would be an easy target for all kinds of underwater predators. To escape that danger and get some dream time, albatrosses take flight. That's right; this bird is one of the few winged creatures that is able to fly and sleep at the same time. All other multi-taskers can take a seat.

3. SHARKS

Looks like the key to having your species survive millions of years is to never let them sleep. Because gills constantly need water running over them to allow their owner to breathe, scientists believe that some species of shark never go into deep sleep. Instead, these aquatic hunters will power down, lazily drifting along. The endless appetite of "Jaws" makes so much sense now. 

2. THRUSH

As a migratory bird, there are times when the thrush is always on the go. To help stay energized through long flights, these birds will take micro-naps, landing for roughly eight seconds to get some of the shortest shuteye ever. Who wants to waste their vacation sleeping anyways? 

1. DOLPHINS

Some showoff sea creatures—we're looking at you sharks—may not need sleep, but other swimmers do. For example, the dolphin. These clever porpoises have developed a way to sleep with one eye open, allowing them to get their rest and keep watch for predators. This safe snoozing tactic is also used by different birds, including ducks. 

BONUS: CATS

Lay off your cat for napping all the time; it's just how they're programmed. Felines prefer to spread out their 12 to 16 hours of sleep throughout the day for several reasons. First, as nocturnal creatures, cat have time to burn during the day before they get busy at night. Cats also have a protein-based diet, which allows them to fill up fast and give their bodies time to slowly burn off the meal.