Shallow and deep lunge feeding of humpback whales in fjords of the West Antarctic Peninsula

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) belong to the class of marine mammals known as rorquals that feed through extraordinarily energetic lunges during which they engulf large volumes of water equal to as much as 70% of their body mass. To understand the kinematics of humpback lunge feeding, we attached high-resolution digital recording tags incorporating accelerometers, magnetometers, pressure and sound recording to whales feeding on euphausiids in fjords of the West Antarctic Peninsula. Instances of near vertical lunges gave us the unique opportunity to use the signal from the accelerometer to obtain a fine scale record of the body accelerations involved in lunging. We found that lunges contain extreme accelerations reaching 2.5 m/s2 in certain instances, which are then followed by decelerations. When animals are intensively feeding the inter-lunge interval is similar for both deep and shallow lunges suggesting a biomechanical constraint on lunges. However, the number of lunges per dive varies from one for shallow feeding (<25 m) to a median of six for deeper dives. Different feeding patterns were evident in the kinematic record, for deep and shallow feeding bouts with the much greater mean turn rates occurring in shallow feeding.

[1]  A. Friedlaender,et al.  Initial density estimates of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in the inshore waters of the western Antarctic Peninsula during the late autumn , 2012 .

[2]  John Calambokidis,et al.  Kinematics of foraging dives and lunge-feeding in fin whales , 2006, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[3]  J. Calambokidis,et al.  Insights into the Underwater Diving, Feeding, and Calling Behavior of Blue Whales from a Suction-Cup-Attached Video-Imaging Tag (CRITTERCAM) , 2007 .

[4]  W. Watkins,et al.  Right Whale Feeding and Baleen Rattle , 1976 .

[5]  P. Brodie.  Noise generated by the jaw actions of feeding fin whales , 1993 .

[6]  Validation of the stochastic distorted-wave Born approximation model with broad bandwidth total target strength measurements of Antarctic krill , 2003 .

[7]  B. Tershy,et al.  The diving behavior of blue and fin whales: is dive duration shorter than expected based on oxygen stores? , 2001, Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology.

[8]  J A Goldbogen,et al.  Passive versus active engulfment: verdict from trajectory simulations of lunge-feeding fin whales Balaenoptera physalus , 2009, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[9]  Ph Wiebe,et al.  A multiple opening/Closing net and environment sensing system for sampling zooplankton , 1976 .

[10]  S. Siegel,et al.  Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences , 2022, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[11]  Meng Zhou,et al.  Aggregation and vertical migration behavior of Euphausia superba , 2004 .

[12]  Colin Ware,et al.  Visualizing the underwater behavior of humpback whales , 2006, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[13]  R. Shadwick,et al.  Skull and buccal cavity allometry increase mass-specific engulfment capacity in fin whales , 2010, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[14]  E. Charnov.  Optimal foraging, the marginal value theorem. , 1976, Theoretical population biology.

[15]  Lisa Schichtel Orton,et al.  Engulfing mechanics of fin whales , 1987 .

[16]  Janice M. Straley,et al.  Frontomandibular Stay of Balaenopteridae: A Mechanism for Momentum Recapture during Feeding , 1995 .

[17]  Dorian S Houser,et al.  Instrumenting free-swimming dolphins echolocating in open water. , 2005, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[18]  Colin Ware,et al.  Diel changes in humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae feeding behavior in response to sand lance Ammodytes spp. behavior and distribution , 2009 .

[19]  August Pivorunas,et al.  The Feeding Mechanisms of Baleen Whales , 1979 .

[20]  Colin Ware,et al.  Fine-scale prey aggregations and foraging ecology of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae , 2009 .

[21]  Douglas P. Nowacek,et al.  SEQUENTIAL FORAGING BEHAVIOUR OF BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS, TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS, IN SARASOTA BAY, FL , 2002 .

[22]  John Calambokidis,et al.  Foraging behavior of humpback whales: kinematic and respiratory patterns suggest a high cost for a lunge , 2008, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[23]  W. Dolphin.  Prey densities and foraging of humpback whales,Megaptera novaeangliae , 1987, Experientia.

[24]  A. Whiten,et al.  On the Nature and Evolution of Imitation in the Animal Kingdom: Reappraisal of a Century of Research , 1992 .

[25]  Robert E. Shadwick,et al.  Big gulps require high drag for fin whale lunge feeding , 2007 .

[26]  S. D. Kraus,et al.  FEEDING BEHAVIOR OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE, MEGAPTERA NOVAEANGLIAE, IN THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC , 1982 .

[27]  D. Croll,et al.  High feeding costs limit dive time in the largest whales. , 2002, The Journal of experimental biology.

[28]  William A. Watkins,et al.  Aerial Observation of Feeding Behavior in Four Baleen Whales: Eubalaena glacialis, Balaenoptera borealis, Megaptera novaeangliae, and Balaenoptera physalus , 1979 .

[29]  Jeremy P. Winn,et al.  Morphological specializations of baleen whales associated with hydrodynamic performance and ecological niche , 2006, Journal of morphology.

[30]  D. O'Brien,et al.  Description of Escape Responses of Krill (Crustacea: Euphausiacea), with Particular Reference to Swarming Behavior and the Size and Proximity of the Predator , 1987 .

[31]  Peter L. Tyack,et al.  A digital acoustic recording tag for measuring the response of wild marine mammals to sound , 2003 .

[32]  Robert D. Kenney,et al.  Apparent bottom feeding by humpback whales on Stellwagen Bank , 1995 .