Video of Humpback Whales Bubble Feeding Is Truly a Sight to Behold
There are some things that look much different when you change the perspective on how you view them. Humpback whales feeding is one of those things. If you watch them feed from on top of the water, you might see lots of bubbles and waves around them. But if you take a bird's eye view and look at these whales feeding from above, it's an entirely different view and one that is truly a sight to see.
World Wildlife Fund - Australia shared a video on Wednesday, January 31st of two humpback whales "bubble feeding". Watch from high in the sky as a beautiful pattern emerges as a result of their feeding...I could literally watch it all day!
How cool is @WWF - Australia's video! I've never seen anything like this before, and I've watched it at least five times. I also hadn't heard of bubble feeding, but luckily WWF explained what was going on in their caption, "Bubble net feeding is when humpback whales dive deep into the ocean to release air to the surface in a circular motion - This confuses and traps their prey so they can swim up through the middle and gulp down a delicious feast of krill and other small fish!" It works really well and makes feeding a lot more efficient!
Related: Video of Whale Gulping Down Hundreds of Fish Is So Cool To See
Humpback Whales and Bubble Feeding
Not all whales use the bubble feeding approach when it comes to finding their next meal, only humpback whales and Bryde's whales use this approach. While there are two whales in WWF's video, whales feed in pairs, groups, and even separately when using this technique. According to Wikipedia, this method of feeding is a learned behavior, not an instinctual one. They use their vocalizations to "talk" to each other and organize the feeding. The bubbles and sounds both confuse the prey nearby, making an easy meal for the whales to scoop up.
I didn't know this, but humpback whales only eat half the year, and when it's feeding season they'll eat about 22 hours a day! They feed during the summer months in cooler waters and store these fat reserves to be used during breeding season. They have a throat the size of a grapefruit, and cannot swallow large fish, which is why that eat krill and small fish that they can swallow whole.
The reason these whales feed in cooler waters (like Alaska) and migrate to warmer waters (like Hawaii) is simple: cold water is a more attractive home to the fish that whales consume (young salmon and herring) and the warmer waters are not.
Who knew that humpback whales' feeding patterns would be so interesting! I'm so glad that WWF-Australia shared this video and sent me down a rabbit hole, curious to learn more about it.
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