Knowra Lunge feeding Lunge feeding Lunge feeding is a whale’s method of accelerating into a prey patch while engulfing a large volume of water. Baleen whales then strain prey from the water through their baleen.
Engulfment feeding : A feeding strategy in which an animal captures prey by engulfing prey and surrounding fluid in its mouth. Lunge feeding is a high-speed form of engulfment, taking in prey along with a large water volume.
Rorquals : The family of baleen whales that includes blue, fin, humpback, and minke whales. Their expandable throats and large mouths make rorquals the best-known lunge feeders.
Blue whale : The largest living animal, a baleen whale that feeds chiefly on krill. Blue whales use repeated lunges to harvest dense krill patches on a massive scale.
Foraging theory : The study of how animals choose feeding strategies that balance energy gains, costs, and risks. It helps explain when prey density makes a costly lunge more profitable than other feeding tactics.
Baleen : Fringed plates of keratin in some whales’ mouths that filter small prey from seawater. After a lunge, baleen retains prey as water flows back out of the mouth.
Baleen whale : A whale in the suborder Mysticeti, which has baleen instead of teeth for filtering food. Lunge feeding occurs in several baleen whales, though it is especially associated with rorquals.
Humpback whale : A large baleen whale known for long migrations, complex songs, and varied feeding behavior. Humpbacks lunge at krill and schooling fish, sometimes coordinating with other whales.
Animal-borne biologging : The use of sensors attached to animals to record their movement, physiology, and environment. Tag data reveal lunge timing and body motion that are difficult to observe directly underwater.
Rorqual throat pleats : Expandable folds of skin and tissue along the throats of rorqual whales. The pleats stretch during engulfment, allowing the mouth to hold a huge volume of water.
Krill : Small, shrimp-like marine crustaceans that form dense swarms and are eaten by many whales. Dense krill swarms can provide the concentrated prey needed to make a lunge worthwhile.
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