Baleen

Baleen is a set of fringed keratin plates hanging from the upper jaws of certain whales. The plates strain small prey from water as the whales feed.

Filter feeding: A feeding strategy that captures food by passing water or another fluid through a filtering structure. Baleen is the filtering structure that makes this feeding strategy possible in whales.
Whale mouth: The oral anatomy whales use to capture or filter food from water. Baleen hangs from the upper jaw and functions within the whale’s mouth.
Right whale skim feeding: A feeding method in which right whales swim slowly with their mouths open, filtering small prey from surface water. Long, fine baleen lets right whales continuously strain dense patches of tiny prey.
Toothed whale: A whale in the group Odontoceti, which uses teeth and often echolocation to capture prey. Toothed whales capture prey individually rather than filtering it through baleen.
Rorqual lunge feeding: A feeding method in which rorqual whales engulf large volumes of prey-filled water, then strain it through baleen. This high-volume feeding method forces prey-laden water through expandable mouth and baleen.
Baleen plate: A flattened keratin structure suspended from a baleen whale’s upper jaw, with fringed edges used to strain prey. The plate is the basic structural unit of a baleen rack.
Gray whale benthic feeding: A feeding behavior in which gray whales disturb seafloor sediments and filter out small invertebrates. Gray whales use baleen to separate prey from sediment-laden water.
Odontoceti: The cetacean group comprising toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Odontocetes have teeth instead of baleen plates.
Baleen whale: A whale in the group Mysticeti, which has baleen instead of functional teeth for filtering prey from water. Baleen is the defining feeding apparatus of this whale group.
Baleen fringe: The hairlike inner edge of a baleen plate, formed by frayed keratin fibers. The fringe traps prey while water passes through the baleen rack.

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