Many very hydrophobic materials found in nature rely on Cassie's law and are biphasic on the submicrometer level. The fine hairs on some plants are hydrophobic, designed to exploit the solvent properties of water to attract and remove sunlight-blocking dirt from their photosynthetic surfaces. Inspired by this lotus effect, many functional superhydrophobic surfaces have been developed.
Water striders are insects that live on the surface film of water, and their bodies are effectively unwettable due to specialized hairpiles called hydrofuge; many of their body surfaces are covered with these specialized "hairpiles", composed of tiny hairs spaced so closely that there are more than one thousand microhairs per mm, which creates a hydrophobic surface. Similar hydrofuge surfaces are known in other insects, including aquatic insects that spend most of their lives submerged, with hydrophobic hairs preventing entry of water into their respiratory system. The skin surface of some species of lizards, such as geckos and anoles, has also been documented as highly hydrophobic, and may facilitate self-cleaning or underwater breathing. 
Some birds are great swimmers, due to their hydrophobic feather coating. Penguins are coated in a layer of air and can release that trapped air to accelerate rapidly when needing to jump out of the water and land on higher ground. Wearing an air coat when swimming reduces the drag and also acts as a heat insulator.