Baleen whale
A marine mammal in the group Mysticeti that filters food from seawater using keratinous baleen plates instead of teeth.
Baleen: Fringed plates of keratin that hang from the upper jaws of baleen whales and strain prey from seawater. These plates perform the filtering that defines mysticete feeding.
Mysticeti: The cetacean suborder comprising all living baleen whales and their extinct relatives. Baleen whales are the living members of this evolutionary lineage.
Blue whale: The largest known animal, a rorqual that feeds mainly on krill by lunge feeding. Its extreme size and feeding strategy are a striking case of baleen whale biology.
Whaling: The hunting and killing of whales for meat, oil, baleen, and other products. Commercial whaling caused severe population declines across many baleen whale species.
Lunge feeding: A feeding method in which a whale accelerates into a dense prey patch, engulfing water and prey. Rorquals use this high-volume strategy to capture prey in bursts.
Cetacea: The mammalian order containing whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Mysticeti is one of the two major living branches of cetaceans.
Humpback whale: A migratory rorqual known for long songs and cooperative bubble-net feeding in some populations. Its varied feeding tactics and social hunts illustrate behavioral diversity among mysticetes.
International Whaling Commission: An international body established in 1946 to regulate whaling and promote whale conservation. Its moratorium on commercial whaling changed the legal framework for exploiting mysticetes.
Continuous ram filtration: A feeding mode in which an animal moves steadily through water while filtering prey continuously. Right whales and bowheads filter while swimming rather than engulfing a large gulp.
Odontoceti: The cetacean suborder containing toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Toothed whales represent the other living cetacean branch, with teeth instead of baleen.