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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]
Bubble-net feeding is a cooperative feeding method used by groups of humpback whales. This behavior is not instinctual, it is learned; not every population of humpbacks knows how to bubble net feed. [4] Humpback whales use vocalizations to coordinate and efficiently execute the bubble net so they all can feed. [4]
Krill are also used for human consumption in several countries. They are known as okiami (オキアミ) in Japan and as camarones in Spain and the Philippines. In the Philippines, they are also called alamang and are used to make a salty paste called bagoong. Krill are also the main prey of baleen whales, including the blue whale.
“Humpback whales eat small fish and krill, NOT seals. While they have very large mouths, their throats are roughly the size of a grapefruit, so they can't swallow something as large as a seal ...
In 2021 and 2022, four humpback whales were entangled in one of Aker BioMarine’s nets. Researchers have also identified krill fishing and shrinking sea ice as threats to the reproductive rates ...
But copepods are smaller than krill, with faster growth rates, and they are more evenly distributed throughout the oceans. This means copepods almost certainly contribute more secondary production to the world's oceans than krill, and perhaps more than all other groups of marine organisms together. They are a major item on the forage fish menu.
Two humpback whales were found dead and another seriously injured this year in huge nets used to collect krill for fishmeal and omega-3 pills near Antarctica, The Associated Press has learned.
However, Japanese do eat krill, [55] and krill is also used in large quantities by fish farms as feed. [56] Pauly's report also claims that the locations where whales and humans catch fish only overlap to a small degree, and he also considers more indirect effects of whales' diet on the availability of fish for fisheries.