Cachalot or the sperm whale is the biggest of the whales and the largest toothed predator in the world. Mature males, also known as bulls, reach up to 20.7 m (68 ft) long, with the head representing up to 1/3 of the body length and brain being the biggest in the world (about 7kg).

These incredible marine mammals have a conservation status and are protected worldwide. Research shows that cachalots have extremely interesting behavior ecology and, scientific evidence shows that they fall asleep 7 % of the time, often after 6 p.m. till midnight.

Such scenes are extremely difficult to be captured even by marine biologists, but  Franco Banfi, a wildlife photographer managed to capture the  rare scene of a group of 10 whales sleeping vertically during one of his diving trips.  The scene was caught about 65ft underwater off the coast of Dominica, where whales are abundant.

“I don’t know why they sleep vertically, maybe because they can use the sonar they have in their head to sense any danger approaching but I was very lucky to see such a great moment in nature, and I’m thankful the whales trusted me and gave me the opportunity to attend the show.” , – says Franco.

He has recently posted a few more photos of sperm whales on his Instagram account and got inspiring comments for his works.

Would you take the risk to swim next to the huge giants in the Caribbean?