Humpback Whale
· Humpback Whale Habitat
· Humpback Whale Food
· Humpback Whale Behaviour
· Conservation Status
· Humpback Whale Pictures
· Humpback Whale Facts

Humpback Whale Food

Humpback Whale food

Humpback whales are baleen whales, just like the Blue Whales, but they do not feed on krill alone: the Humpback Whales want fish and shrimp-like crustaceans as well. They happily hunt schooling fish using intricate hunting techniques, and herring, capelin and sand lance are often on the menu. A Humpback can eat up to 1 ½ ton of Humpback Whale food a day during the feeding season. It can perform direct attacks on prey, or stun fish using its powerful flippers and flukes. It does not have to hit the fish directly; hitting the water around the fish is usually enough to shock it. Slapping flippers can also be a way of startling fish, thereby making them easier to catch. One of the most fascinating hunting techniques performed by Humpback whales is however bubble net fishing.

Humpback Whale food: the baleens  

As mentioned above, the Humpback Whale is a baleen whale, which means that it is equipped with so called baleens – series of overlapping plates that hang from the sides of the upper jaw instead of teeth. In a Humpback Whale, you can find from 270 to 400 black plates and they are used to filter food from the water. The plates are fringed and made out of keratin; the same material that your fingernails and toenails consist of. The keratin frays out into hairs near the tongue and these hairs are small enough to trap even really small krill. Each plate is roughly 75 cm (3 inches) long. The Humpback Whale can take in vast amounts of water and Humpback Whale food into its mouth, because the throat will expand to accommodate the volume. When the whale closes its mouth, the water will be forced through the baleen plates and food will be trapped closed to the tongue where it can then be swallowed.