You could say that they can find their food with their eyes closed. Credit: Jon Hlidberg and Tyler Steff. Property of NBWM. An adult sperm whale can eat as much as a ton of squid per day.
There are species of squid in the ocean with sizes that range from 0. The species of prey that the whales, dolphins and porpoises eat depend on where they live. Cetaceans with baleen mysticetes eat small prey items, such as krill, copepods and other zooplankton, or capelin, sand lance, or other small fish, by straining it out of the water.
They use plates of baleen, made of keratin just like our hair and fingernails, that hang from their upper jaws to filter these small creatures. These baleen plates are lined up very close together leaving little space for anything except sea water to sneak through.
The edge of the baleen that faces in toward the tongue and throat is fringed with hair or bristles that trap the prey. The whale can also use its tongue to push water through the baleen and out of the mouth. They then swallow the mouthful of food without chewing it. Because cetaceans swallow their food rather than chew it, they have an adaptation that does the job of grinding up the food the way that our back teeth do to start the process of digestion. They have multiple stomachs which help to store the food, grind the food, process the food, and pass it along for further digestion.
Drowning is always a good option but again this can take time. To quicken the process the prey will sometimes be shot in the air or hit with appendages to try and stun or even break its bones. It has been found that different groups of the same species will feed differently depending on their location, the season and what is available to them. For example, with the dwindling numbers of Chinook salmon our beloved Resident Orca may have to find a new favourite food as time moves on.
They will also have different hunting strategies too depending on their environment numbers and prey type. Hunting strategies are passed on by learning and repeating. This way feeding techniques are always improving and becoming more and more efficient- new strategies are being discovered all the time by scientist. Read More Articles , News. News Articles Sightings Contact Us. A Humpback whale showing its large mouth!
What do whales eat? This determines how and what they will munch on… Baleen Whales Baleen whales have baleen instead of teeth and include, right whales, gray whales, rorquals, and others. In an attempt to escape from the noise, the panicked fish swim upwards. Finally the whales swim up very quickly from the bottom, open mouthed and eat the trapped fish! Toothed Whales Toothed whales have, well you guessed it, teeth! The echo returns and is received along the lower jaw of the animal.
The signals regarding the location, size and kinds of foods available in their surroundings are transmitted to the inner ear to build up a 3D picture. Peek-a-boo Orca coming up for a breath in the misty Salish Sea. It is true that many whale species prefer feeding on small morsels of food, but there is one species in particular that can eat larger fish: the sperm whale.
The sperm whale, the largest toothed whale in existence, will usually consume whale food including large squid, fish, and octopus. It is believed that sperm whales consuming an astonishing billion pounds of squid every year.
It is not uncommon to see small, circular marks around the head of a sperm whale, brought on by octopus and squid attaching to head in an attempt to avoid being eaten. The type of whale food a whale eats is largely determined by whether they have teeth or not. Toothed whales are known to be active hunters, as they have teeth to consume larger whale food. The majority of toothed whales will eat whale food species such as squid, octopus, crustaceans and fish.
Other toothed whales, such as the killer whale, will hunt bigger marine mammals including whale food such as seals, sharks, birds, and even other whales. In addition to hunting and feeding on larger whale food, killer whales are also known for hunting in groups.
They have been viewed engaging in seemingly coordinated attacks of their prey, much like a pack of wolves. The killer whale will rarely separate from its pod, except when mating, or in some cases, when foraging for whale food. Otherwise, they spend most of their lives maintaining very strong family bonds.
Hunting in groups is not only characteristic of the killer whale, as other species of toothed whales have been viewed feeding in groups. These whales are believed to hunt together due their smaller sizes in some cases, as well as their more complex social bonds.
Unlike toothed whales, baleen whales do not have teeth. Baleen whales are known to engage in filter feeding, a unique method of hunting. With filter feeding, a baleen whale will swim with its mouth open towards its prey. Once the whale food is caught, they will close their mouths and push the excess water out with the tongue. Their bristles ensure that the whale food does not escape.
The prey is then swallowed whole. Examining the second order, the baleen whales, organisms show a completely different strategy of feeding. Baleen plates are made out of keratin, the same material our human hair and fingernails are existent of. Given, that every whale possesses a couple hundreds of theses plates, the functionality is comparable to a sieve.
Hence, a common way to obtain food for these whales is filter feeding. Hereby, representative species are skimming through the water column or even right below the surface, having their mouth widely opened up.
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