Researchers have captured primer - breaking video footage of humpback whale whales during what is do it as bubble - profits feeding , that not only shew it from above , but from a heavyweight ’s point of view .
Bubble - profits feeding is a complex herding proficiency uniquely used by hunchback and Bryde ’s whales , perform as a mathematical group . The heavyweight circle their prey – usually salmon , herring , or krill – and start to blow bubble that corral the Pisces into a slopped R-2 within the bubble " final " . One heavyweight make the " feeding call " and they all simultaneously drown upwards with their mouths open to scoop up their dinner party .
It ’s one of thefew airfoil feeding behaviorshumpback whales share in , so researchers have been capable torecord it before , but the giant - cams have allowed the researchers unprecedented access to how the heavyweight are corral their quarry below the aerofoil .
" The footage is rather innovative . We ’re keep how these animals are manipulate their fair game and prepare the prey for gaining control . So it is allowing us to advance new insights that we really have n’t been capable to do before,“saidLars Bejder , director of the University of Mānoa’sMarine Mammal Research Program .
" [ B]asically we have two angles and the drone ’s view is designate us these house of cards nets if you will and how the bubble are starting to come to the surface and how the animate being amount up through the house of cards net as they come on , while the camera on the whales are telling us this from the animal ’s position , so overlaying these two datum stage set is quite exciting . "
inquisitively , this conduct is learned rather than instinctual , so not all humpback whale populations carry it out . Itrequires cooperationand can include up to 60 whale in one go . If you thought it was justkiller whales that puzzle out togetheras a team to take down their prey , you ’re wrong .
As humpbacks are migrant they spend half the year fattening up in the rich feeding grounds of Alaska in cooking for the 4,800 - km ( 3,000 - mile ) journeying to Hawaii ’s warm - piddle breeding grounds . During their time in Alaska they can eat for up to 22 60 minutes a daylight , so the researchers attach suction - cup tags fitted with tv camera to a group in Southeast Alaska – the only place whale are know to bubble - net feed – in a bidding to try and understand this behavior better .
" In Hawai’i , it ’s a breeding and resting soil . When they get up to Alaska it ’s a foraging ground , and we ’re test to understand what that whole migration pattern cost these animals and also how much prey these animals have to consume to keep this whole migration , " Bejder explain in the picture above .
The information they have harvest from the cameras and accelerometer tag ( which measure acceleration military unit ) coupled with the drone datum is revealing the details of how the giant carry out this behaviour , how often they feed , and how much they must feed to get ahead enough weight in preparation for breeding season .
The research is part of a larger investigating into causes of possible descent in hunchback whale numbers , including habitat changes , change to food for thought availability , and the effect of clime change .
