Ukrainian polar explorers record humpback whale hunting with bubble net
Kyiv • UNN
A biologist at Akademik Vernadsky station filmed a video of a humpback whale hunting with a bubble net. The whale creates a ring around the prey and then dives through the center, collecting the food in its mouth.
Ukrainian polar explorers from the Akademik Vernadsky station have shown how humpback whales hunt prey using a bubble net. This is stated on the Facebook page of the National Antarctic Science Center, UNN reports .
Details
The polar explorers told us that whales spiral around a school of fish or krill, forcing the prey to congregate, and then swallow it. This is called bubble netting.
"Usually, groups of humpbacks take part in such hunts, but researchers have observed cases when a single whale made a bubble net. Biologist Vadym Tkachenko managed to capture this moment on video," the statement said.
Scientists point out that the video shows the whale making a ring around the prey and then swimming up through the center. As it swam out, it used its large throat folds to gather everything around it into its mouth. Then the folds opened, allowing a large volume of water to be taken in, which the whales push out through the whisker plates, leaving the prey inside.
"Despite their large mouths, these animals can swallow a limited amount of food because they have a narrow throat. It stretches to a maximum of only the size of a watermelon," the scientists added.
