Why do baleen whales feed on plankton

For instance, by measuring how much orcas or killer whales eat, biologists extrapolated what a humpback whale or a blue whale would consume. Baleen whales often catch food by lunging, or accelerating through the water in quick bursts, horizontally or vertically, with mouths agape. Putting all of this together, they found that the tagged animals ate anywhere from 5 to 30 percent of their body weight in krill each day.

Previous estimates suggested baleen whales consume less than 5 percent of their body weight daily. In the late s, marine biogeochemist John Martin hypothesized that a lack of iron in the Southern Ocean was limiting the number of phytoplankton , which is a primary food source for krill. Read why the Southern Ocean is the fifth—and newest—ocean. Subsequent experiments showed that whale feces are some of the most iron-rich material in the ocean. More feces creates a positive feedback loop as more phytoplankton means more krill, which can support more whales.

But there are positive signs: Numbers of humpback whales in the western South Atlantic have increased to 25, from just in the midth century. For instance, the climate is changing more quickly in the polar regions, and the resulting shifts—such as warmer, more acidic water—could reduce populations of phytoplankton.

Even so, Cavan says, the study is a strong reminder that healthy oceans need whales—and their waste. All rights reserved. Animals News. Whales eat three times more than previously thought The blue whale, the world's largest animal, can consume up to 16 tons of plankton daily, which has major implications for ocean health.

Humpback whales pictured, an animal off California excrete huge amounts of iron-rich feces that's vital to the ocean's nutrient cycle. The difference between the sound sent out and the sound received tells you something about how many zooplankton are out there, and what they are doing.

An example of the echosounder data showing diel-vertical migration from one of our gliders is given in the figure above. In order to know how much zooplankton is out there by the difference in sound, the echosounder has to first be calibrated in a big tank. This is done by hanging a small sphere of known composition underneath the echosounder and recording how much sound reflects off of the sphere.

Your email address will not be published. Baleen whales eat swarms of tiny crustaceans called zooplankton, and they engage in all kinds of tricky tactics to get the biggest mouthful of food for the smallest amount of effort. The Challenge Whales are marine mammals, which means they breathe air. All Together Now! Watch a blue whale here feeding on krill.

And here see tagging of blue whale and feeding and its feeding strategy. Watch humpback whales feeding in Monterey Bay. Read about the disappearing krill in the Antarctic. Skip to main content. Creature Feature: Krill and Whales Krill are shrimp-like arthropods that make up a large portion of the zooplankton in many regions of the ocean. This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. We may request cookies to be set on your device.

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