Now that's a deep sleep! Photographer captures an incredibly rare shot of a pod of whales snoozing vertically

An underwater photographer has captured a rare and enthralling set of images which capture a pod of sleeping whales

Franco Banfi, 58, caught the magnificent creatures around 65ft underwater as well as his partner, free diver Sabrina, 51

The 40ft long sperm whales, known to be quite social, spend around seven per cent of their time sleeping and nap vertically for six to 25 minutes - in this case it was ten

The ethereal images were captured just off the coast of the Caribbean island Dominica, and also included photos of the marine mammals awake and swimming around

Mr Banfi, from Cadro, Switzerland, said: 'This was a group of around ten sperm whales all sleeping together. 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'

He added: '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. It doesn't happen like that every time you see them'