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In general, blue whale populations migrate between their summer feeding areas near the poles and their winter breeding grounds near the tropics. There is also evidence of year-round residencies, and partial or age/sex-based migration. Blue whales are filter feeders; their diet consists almost exclusively of krill. They are generally solitary or ...
The blue whale's diet consists almost exclusively of krill. [34] Blue whales capture krill through lunge feeding; they swim towards them at high speeds as they open their mouths up to 80°. [34] [69] They may engulf 220 metric tons (220 long tons; 240 short tons) of water at one time. [73]
Rorquals (/ ˈ r ɔːr k w əl z /) are the largest group of baleen whales, comprising the family Balaenopteridae, which contains nine extant species in two genera.They include the largest known animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach 180 tonnes (200 short tons), and the fin whale, which reaches 120 tonnes (130 short tons); even the smallest of the group, the northern minke ...
To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and remain as a food source for the whale. Baleen is similar to bristles and consists of keratin, the same substance found in human fingernails, skin and hair. Baleen is a skin ...
There are approximately 89 [8] living species split into two parvorders: Odontoceti or toothed whales (containing porpoises, dolphins, other predatory whales like the beluga and the sperm whale, and the poorly understood beaked whales) and the filter feeding Mysticeti or baleen whales (which includes species like the blue whale, the humpback ...
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 30 January 2025. Large baleen whale species Humpback whale Temporal range: 7.2–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Late Miocene – Recent Size compared to an average human Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) CITES Appendix I (CITES) Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom ...
Large swarms of krill, Nyctiphanes australis, form during upwelling events. An abundance of krill makes the Bonney Upwelling an important feeding site for the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) Extensive upwelling of nutrient-rich water makes the GSACUS an important marine hot spot on Australia's southern shelves.
Whales feed at deeper levels in the ocean where krill is found, but return regularly to the surface to breathe. There whales defecate a liquid rich in nitrogen and iron. Instead of sinking, the liquid stays at the surface where phytoplankton consume it. In the Gulf of Maine, the whale pump provides more nitrogen than the rivers. [30]