We’re all familiar with photos and videos of humpback whales with huge, gaping mouths spilling out tons of water. Humpbacks are baleen whales: their baleen acts as a sieve, straining out water as it traps small fish or crustaceans. How humpback whales catch their prey is a cultural tradition that varies depending on the population. Sometimes humpbacks feed alone; often the whales feed in groups.
Off the east coast of New England whales feed on schools of small fish called sand lance. They have a behavior called lobtail feeding: a whale slams its tail down to induce the fish to school in a tight ball, then the whale creates a bubble net trapping the fish, making it easy to scoop them all up. It all began with one clever whale that starting feeding this way and spread through the population in the Gulf of Maine. Watch “Whales and Their Tales.” This cultural tradition is passed down through generations.
In the Northeast Pacific ocean, humpback whales feed cooperatively, herding schools of fish or krill into tight balls. Then the whales blow bubbles in unison from their blow holes, creating a bubble net to trap the fish, and then open their huge mouths to engulf their prey, in a behavior called lunge feeding. Watch humpbacks lunge feeding here. The whales have inherited the feeding tradition culturally, independent of genetic information, as is explained in the video Whales and Their Tales.”
