Blue whales, new research

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From the BBC:

28 November 2012 Last updated at 05:01

Largest whale‘s acrobatic ambush

By Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature

Blue whales perform underwater acrobatics to attack their prey from below, scientists have found.

The massive mammals are known for lunge-feeding; gulping up to 100 tonnes of krill-filled water in less than 10 seconds.

Using suction cup tags, US researchers have recorded the surprising manoeuvrability of the giants.

They found that the whales roll 360 degrees in order to orientate themselves for a surprise attack.

The results are published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters by Dr Jeremy Goldbogen and colleagues for the Cascadia Research Collective based in Washington, US.

“Despite being the the largest animals to have ever lived, blue whales still show an impressive capacity to perform complex manoeuvres that are required to efficiently exploit patches of krill,” said Dr Goldbogen.

Blue whales feed exclusively on krill: tiny plankton that have excellent escape responses, requiring the mammals to have efficient foraging strategies to be able to meet their energy demands.

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