Facts about Baleen Filter Feeding
- 07
Sei whales are the fastest baleen feeders, reaching speeds of 31 miles per hour while lunging to engulf fish schools in their expandable throat pouches.
- 06
Fin whales can consume up to 2 tons of fish daily by expanding their throat grooves, which number 50 to 100 pleats running from chin to belly, allowing massive water intake during lunges.
- 05
Humpback whales employ bubble-net feeding, where 12 or more individuals coordinate spiraling movements to concentrate fish into a cylindrical column before lunging upward with baleen exposed.
- 04
Gray whales migrate 12,000 miles annually between Arctic feeding grounds and Mexican breeding lagoons, consuming bottom sediment through baleen to extract amphipods and other benthic organisms.
- 03
Right whales can filter 500 gallons of water per minute through their baleen plates while feeding on dense swarms of copepods in Arctic waters.
- 02
Baleen plates, made of keratin like human fingernails, can measure up to 3.5 meters long in right whales and continuously grow throughout the animal's lifetime.
- 01
A blue whale consumes up to 4 tons of krill daily during feeding season by filtering water through 300 to 400 baleen plates.