{"id":41254,"date":"2024-08-21T11:23:44","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T09:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/f5df3d1c-0f63-4be5-9753-cfeac7673588"},"modified":"2024-08-21T12:27:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T10:27:28","slug":"humpback-whales-actually-make-and-use-tools-for-hunting-finds-new-study-and-its-utterly-mesmerising-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/humpback-whales-actually-make-and-use-tools-for-hunting-finds-new-study-and-its-utterly-mesmerising-to-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Humpback whales actually make and use tools for hunting, finds new study. And it’s utterly mesmerising to watch…"},"content":{"rendered":"

A groundbreaking new study has revealed that humpback whales manipulate this unique tool in a variety of ways to catch huge volumes of prey in their Alaskan feeding grounds. <\/p>

By Daniel Graham\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 21 August 2024 at 09:23 AM<\/p>

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Scientists have discovered that humpback whales in south-east Alaska create and modify tools to help them hunt prey.<\/strong><\/p>

The tools in question are ‘bubble nets’, krill<\/a>-catching devices used in a way that is “wholly unique to humpback whales”, according to a new study published in\u00a0Royal Society Open Science<\/em>.<\/p>

The groundbreaking research places humpbacks<\/a> among a rare group of animals that manufacture and use their own tools<\/a> to help them survive.<\/p>

Humpback whales create bubble nets to maximise their intake of food. Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Researchers have long known that humpback whales create bubble nets to hunt. However, the new study \u2013 which focused on solitary humpback whales in south-east Alaska \u2013 reveals that the large marine mammals don’t just create these nets, they also manipulate them to increase their food intake.<\/p>

\u201cMany animals use tools to help them find food,\u201d explains Professor Lars Bejder, co-lead author of the study and Director of the\u00a0Marine Mammal Research Program<\/u><\/a>\u00a0(MMRP) at UH Hawai\u02bbi Institute of Marine Biology<\/a>, \u201cbut very few actually create or modify these tools themselves.”<\/p>

To try and find out exactly how humpback whales hunt using bubble nets, the team deployed non-invasive suction-cup tags and drones to study the whales\u2019 movements from above and below the water.\u00a0<\/p>

\"Researchers
A researcher deploys a suction-cup tag on a foraging humpback whale in south-east Alaska. Credit: MMRP\/AWF. Collected under permit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The team observed the whales blowing bubbles in patterns, forming nets with internal rings; the number of rings, the size and depth of the net, and the spacing between bubbles were skilfully controlled by the humpbacks. <\/p>

“This method lets them capture up to seven times more prey in a single feeding dive without using extra energy,” says Bejder. <\/p>

The hunting method is key for the survival of the whales, who rely on Alaska’s rich feeding grounds to build their energy reserves before making their way to Hawai\u02bbi for winter, where krill is less abundant.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s so incredible to see these animals in their natural habitat, performing behaviours that only a few people ever get to see,” says William Gough, co-author and MMRP researcher. “And it\u2019s rewarding to be able to come back to the lab, dive into the data, and learn about what they\u2019re doing underwater once they disappear from view.”<\/p>

Gough and the team hope that understanding this unique and essential behaviour will provide resource managers with a useful information for monitoring and conserving the feeding grounds of humpback whales.<\/p>

\"Humpback
Infographic showing features of the bubble-net. Humpback whales can manipulate these features: number of rings in the net, distance between bubbles in teh inner and outer rings) to effectively concentrate prey and keep them from escaping. Credit: Marine Mammal Research Program, UHM\/ SOEST<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Next, the researchers plan to explore how humpback whales perform other feeding behaviours, such as cooperative bubble-netting, surface feeding, and deep lunge feeding.<\/p>

This study was conducted under a NOAA permit issued to the Alaska Whale Foundation<\/u><\/a>. All research was conducted under institution IACUC approvals.<\/p>

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