Blue whales rotate 360 ​​degrees to hunt

Scientists have recently discovered that blue whales perform acrobatics in the water to attack prey from below. They recorded the amazing mobility of this giant creature. They found whales spinning 360 degrees to orient themselves for a surprise attack.

The results are published in the Royal Society Biology Letters by Dr. Jeremy Goldbogen and colleagues representing the Cascadia Research Collective association based in Washington, USA.

Despite being the largest animal ever to exist, the blue whale still shows an impressive ability to perform complex manipulations of plankton.

To find out how to hunt these giant fish, Dr. Goldbogen and his team attached activity tags to a group of blue whales located off the coast of southern California, USA. .

The results showed that the whales performed impressive circular movements under the waves to penetrate the plankton.

"When the blue whale approached the plankton, it used flippers and tails to spin 180 degrees so that its body and jaw were just below the plankton," Dr. Goldbogen explained. . "At about 180 degrees, the whale's mouth just started to open so the blue whale can submerge the plankton from below. '

When the blue whale submerges the water filled with plankton, it continues to spin in the same direction and completes a 360 degree circle and its body is back to balance to get ready for the attack. next.

Researchers were able to record video footage of impressive acrobatics using a video camera attached to other whales to monitor this natural behavior.

Previously, researchers have seen similar behavior in other whales such as gray back whales, such as humpback whales, but these creatures rarely turn over 150 degrees while hitting Catch the plankton.

In smaller whales, the ability to rotate and turn is thought to be due to long fins and tails.

However, for blue whales, scientists have found efforts to divert 'reward' to this huge mammal, a giant meal.

Dr. Goldbogen said that the results of this study will provide data for further studies on the whale's complex behavior. Goldbogen also said that future tagging has the potential to help scientists better understand the daily life of organisms in their natural environment.