Cheap gulp foraging of a giga-predator enables efficient exploitation of sparse prey

Simone K.A. Videsen, Malene Simon, Fredrik Christiansen, Ari Friedlaender, Jeremy Goldbogen, Hans Malte, Paolo Segre, Tobias Wang, Mark Johnson, Peter T. Madsen*

*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift/Konferencebidrag i tidsskrift /Bidrag til avisTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

13 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

The giant rorqual whales are believed to have a massive food turnover driven by a high-intake lunge feeding style aptly described as the world's largest biomechanical action. This high-drag feeding behavior is thought to limit dive times and constrain rorquals to target only the densest prey patches, making them vulnerable to disturbance and habitat change. Using biologging tags to estimate energy expenditure as a function of feeding rates on 23 humpback whales, we show that lunge feeding is energetically cheap. Such inexpensive foraging means that rorquals are flexible in the quality of prey patches they exploit and therefore more resilient to environmental fluctuations and disturbance. As a consequence, the food turnover and hence the ecological role of these marine giants have likely been overestimated.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummerade3889
TidsskriftScience Advances
Vol/bind9
Nummer25
Sider (fra-til)eade3889
Antal sider10
ISSN2375-2548
DOI
StatusUdgivet - jun. 2023

Fingeraftryk

Dyk ned i forskningsemnerne om 'Cheap gulp foraging of a giga-predator enables efficient exploitation of sparse prey'. Sammen danner de et unikt fingeraftryk.

Citationsformater