Photo Album Page 27
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| Humpback whales often feed in small groups, such as these two here (image closeup; 100k). Pink tissue, seen in the outer animal, is the roof of the mouth. |
Small hairs and the sensitive bumps found on the head of humpback whales may help locate prey and time the opening of the mouth (seal whisker research article). |
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| While the mouth is open, small fish or other prey still have an opportunity to escape, though most are probably far down in the throat pouch. |
After the mouth is mostly closed, the whale starts filtering sea water out utilizing baleen hanging from the outer roof of the mouth (see 1st photo). |
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| Large baleen whales can filter more than 100,000 gallons of water, and eat more than 1000 pounds of food, in a single day...sometimes much more. |
Cooperative feeding in small groups is believed to make corraling and capturing prey more efficient in some conditions than feeding alone. |
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