Despite their huge size, these whales are extremely clumsy and slow, so their hunting ability is quite limited. Every day humpback whales must perform hundreds of hunts to be able to recharge their bodies weighing more than 40 tons. It is not enough to wait for the small crustaceans to float in on their own, while the other fish are too small and agile to be chased.
For this reason, large animals gradually learn and create unique and highly effective ways of hunting.
Among them is a method known as “bubble net”.
Video : Humpback whales arrayed “bubble nets”, capturing small fishes:
It looks commonplace, but it’s actually a pretty clever tactic of the whales. Instead of trying to catch the prey, the large fish teamed up, driving the fish in a certain direction, gradually encircling the prey’s escape route, herding them close to the surface of the water and then capturing the whole school of fish. . In this way, once hunting, the whales will receive a huge amount of food, after only a few times, the fish can fill their huge stomachs.
As noted by scientists, this method of hunting has appeared a long time ago. Dolphins and whales are known to learn and pass on hunting methods through the generations.
However, the documentation of giant fish is not as extensive as their friendly little relative. Besides the elusive massive size, whales mainly live in quite harsh areas, so the study of this animal has always been a big challenge for scientists.
Catching predatory whales is not an easy thing and the access to the visual recording is even more difficult, to be able to capture a close-up and sharp clip like the above is a miracle. The owner of the clip, Berthold Hinrichs, said he captured this epic moment on Skjervoy Bay off the Norwegian Sea .
