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A whale of an appetite revealed by analysis of prey consumption

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  • 03 November 2021

A whale of an appetite revealed by analysis of prey consumption

Reaching a deeper understanding of the ocean ecosystems that maintain whales might aid conservation efforts. Measurements of the animals’ krill intake indicate that previous figures were substantial underestimates.
  • Victor Smetacek

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  1. Victor Smetacek

    1. Victor Smetacek is at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany.

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Baleen whales are the largest known animals that have ever lived. They feed on centimetre-sized prey by filtering seawater through plates of frayed, bristle-like combs, termed baleen, that are fixed to their upper jaws. Previous estimates of the food requirements of whale populations indicate the animals’ enormous food demand1. In the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, before the whaling era, the krill biomass consumed by whales alone is estimated to have been 190 million tonnes annually1, an amount substantially greater than the entire annual world fish catch in modern times2. Intense fishing by humans has decimated ocean fish stocks in a few decades. By contrast, whale feeding seems to be sustainable, as evidenced by hallmarks of the animals’ evolution, such as their long lifespan and high degree of specialization geared to the consumption of just one prey — krill.

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Nature 599, 33-34 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02951-3

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