Swimming in the sweet spot: how marine animals save energy on long journeys

By Kimberley Stokes, Research Officer in Biosciences, Swansea University

Competitive swimmers know that swimming underwater causes less drag resistance than swimming at the surface. Splashing around making waves isn’t the most efficient way to swim. Any energy spent creating waves is essentially wasted, as water is moved without providing forward thrust for the swimmer.

New research by my colleagues and I has found evidence that many air-breathing marine animals know this too – or rather they have evolved swimming behaviour that minimises wasted energy on long journeys.
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