Facts about Whale Feeding Grounds
- 09
Bowhead whales use whale feeding grounds in the Bering Sea where they filter copepods and krill through their baleen plates, which can reach nearly 3 meters in length.
- 08
In the Gulf of California, fin whales exploit seasonal plankton blooms to consume up to 2 tons of fish and squid daily during their winter feeding grounds.
- 07
Off the coast of Peru and Chile, upwelling currents create the Humboldt Current feeding grounds where blue whales consume up to 4 tons of krill daily during austral summer months.
- 06
Approximately 90 percent of the North Atlantic right whale population congregates in the Bay of Fundy each summer to exploit dense copepod swarms in these Canadian feeding grounds.
- 05
Beluga whales congregate in Hudson Bay's shallow estuaries each summer, with populations reaching 57,000 individuals feeding on Arctic cod, capelin, and other fish species.
- 04
Stellwagen Bank, located 25 miles off Massachusetts, concentrates over 4,000 humpback whales seasonally due to nutrient-rich upwelling that creates ideal feeding grounds for these marine mammals.
- 03
Each summer, over 20,000 gray whales migrate to the Bering and Chukchi Seas to feed on benthic amphipods and other bottom-dwelling prey in Arctic feeding grounds.
- 02
Antarctic waters support the largest whale feeding grounds on Earth, where krill populations reaching 500 million tons annually sustain over 10,000 baleen whales during austral summer months.
- 01
The waters off Monterey Bay, California host up to 25,000 humpback whales annually during their summer feeding season from June through November.