Tag Archive for 'Bubble-net feeding'

Several animal species use tools for foraging; however, very few manufacture and/or modify those tools. Humpback whales, which manufacture bubble-net tools while foraging, are among these rare species. Using animal-borne tag and unoccupied aerial system technologies, Szabo et al. examine bubble-nets manufactured by solitary humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Southeast Alaska while feeding on krill. They demonstrate that the nets consist of internally tangential rings and suggest that whales actively control the number of rings in a net, net size and depth and the horizontal spacing between neighboring bubbles. They argue that whales regulate these net structural elements to increase per-lunge prey intake by, on average, sevenfold. Image credit: Szabo et al., doi: 10.1098/rsos.240328.

Humpback Whales Wield and Manufacture Their Own Tools

Aug 21, 2024 by News Staff

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) create the so-called ‘bubble-net tools’ to hunt, but researchers from the University of Hawai’i and the...

Humpback whale bubble-net feeding. Image credit: University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

Researchers Capture Stunning Video of Whale Bubble-Net Feeding

Oct 14, 2019 by News Staff

A research team led by University of Hawai’i at Manoa marine biologists has captured whale’s-point-of-view and aerial drone video of humpback whale...