Researchers found that the brains of newborn seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are large when they are born. The baby seal’s brain size is relatively large compared with adult seals and, remarkably 70% the size of adult brains.
What is remarkable about these seals are that they are the only mammal that swims long distances under the sea ice, holding their breath for up to 20 kilometers until they pop up in breaks in the Antarctic ice. Their big brains help them navigate these marathon distances in the icy cold waters at the bottom of the Earth.
So we thought, are there any implications of brain size and the ability to swim in cold waters among humans?
Does that imply that human ice swimmers also have larger-than-average brains? Do their brains enable them to go long distances in extremely cold waters? There are some sharp cookies among the ice swimming crowd, so perhaps they are born with large(r) brains?
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.