Feeding
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2019 / 10 / 29
Are the blue whales in the St. Lawrence getting enough to eat?
In summer, the St. Lawrence is a feeding ground for a number of blue whales of the northwest Atlantic population. They feed exclusively on krill, consuming up to an estimated four tonnes a day of thes...
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2019 / 08 / 28
What does a blue whale use its tongue for?
Blue whales have a huge tongue that weighs as much as an elephant. In addition to the sense of taste, this organ is also involved in engulfing large volumes of water, a filter-feeding technique specif...
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2019 / 07 / 11
What is ambergris?
Sperm whales are known and have been hunted for their production of ambergris, a substance of great value that has historically been used notably in the perfume industry. It is estimated that ambergri...
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2019 / 03 / 06
Blue Whale Migratory Traditions
Every day, blue whales must devour up to 4 tonnes of krill before they are full. With such an enormous appetite, it’s no wonder that food is a determining factor in their migration. But how do they ...
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2019 / 01 / 16
An Ancient Whale with Neither Teeth Nor Baleen
Museum collections are full of fossils that haven’t been carefully examined in years. However, by taking a closer look at a 33-million-year-old whale fossil from the Smithsonian’s National Museum ...
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2018 / 10 / 16
Whales with Different Methods of Filtering
Baleen refers to the stiff plates of keratin that hang off the upper jaw of some whales, more precisely mysticetes… but is all baleen alike? Of course not! The size and shape of baleen and how i...
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2018 / 10 / 15
What Do Whales Do at Night?
A curtain closes, night takes over the sky and during its quiet advance the frantic pace of the cities tapers off. But what happens in the St. Lawrence when darkness arrives? What do whales do during ...
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2017 / 04 / 28
North Atlantic Right Whales Making Headlines: What’s Going On?
An unprecedented number of whales in Cape Cod Bay in recent weeks and an abnormally low number of newborns observed this winter off the coasts of Georgia and Florida are causing surprise and raising m...
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2017 / 01 / 11
How did baleen appear?
A recently discovered whale fossil has proven to be an important piece of the puzzle with regard to whale evolution. ...
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2016 / 06 / 14
Study Reveals Exceptional Efficiency of a Small Hunter
The harbour porpoise feeds day and night, aiming to capture up to 550 small fish per hour, with a success rate of over 90%...