Humpback whalesare improbably intelligent creatures , so it ’s perhaps no surprise that they ’re also savvy hunters . AsCosmosmagazinereports , humpbacks off the northeastern sea-coast of Vancouver Island have been seen trick Pisces into swimming directly into their unfastened mouths .
These cetacean mammal usually hurl toward their prey , and since they ’re about the sizing of aschool busbar , this is generally a pretty sound method acting . However , researcher spotted two Megaptera novaeangliae whales testing out a totally new tactic in 2011 . Instead of chasing after Pisces , the wily cetacean mammal were seen holding still while looking up towards the sky with one-half of their heads poking above the water . When they open up their jaws , the glum recesses inside their mouths can well be mistaken for a dependable harbor , where Pisces might seek refuge from predatory seabirds . The cetaceans also use their pectoral Little Phoebe to draw water towards them , and once the Pacific herring have been lured in spite of appearance , they snap their powerful jaw close . On average , they keep their mouth clear for 18 to 90 seconds .
“ The whale is render a shadow or tax shelter , ” Christie McMillan , executive conductor of the Marine Education and Research Society , tellsThe Vancouver Sun . “ It ’s like a Venus flytrap , a sit - and - waitress idea . It ’s not work so well for the Clupea harangus , but it ’s working for the whales . ”
This trap - feeding technique was name for the first meter by research worker from the society in arecent issueofMarine Mammal Science . Even more unco , the behavior seems to be unfold , which means the whale might be discover from each other . Only two hunchback were tell apart using the technique in 2011 , but 16 were visualize trap - eating in 2015 .
“ found on the rapid diffusion of the conduct and the characteristics of the prey consumed using this proficiency , bunker - feeding is likely an energetically efficient method acting of foraging on juvenile Clupea harangus that is culturally transfer between humpback whales , " the investigator pen in their paper .
The behaviour has n’t yet spread among humpback beyond British Columbia , as far as researchers can tell . However , Bryde ’s heavyweight in the Gulf of Thailand have exhibited similar feeding behaviors , agree toThe Vancouver Sun .
[ h / tCosmos ]
