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 these tiny planktonic crustaceans that live in swarms. If, of course, the ecosystem allows. Are they really eating enough to accumulate sufficient energy to survive the winter fast and to reproduce? Is it due to a lack of food that this population of blue whales is endangered?<\/p>\n
In an attempt to answer these questions, Fisheries and Oceans Canada researchers and their collaborators have measured krill density in the St. Lawrence. But how does one know if these densities are sufficient? By creating a mathematical model to calculate energy expenditure and energy gains on the basis of krill density. The following are some of the questions that researchers had to answer in order to build the model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 these tiny planktonic crustaceans that live in swarms. If, of course, the ecosystem allows. Are they really eating enough to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":44870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[571,475,727],"class_list":["post-44922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-whale","tag-feeding","tag-krill-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n