Amphipods
Do GREY whales eat crab?
Gray whales eat very little while on migration. Still, they may find and eat schooling squid, krill, crab larvae , herring eggs, ghost shrimp, and small bait fish such as capelin. This jar of whale food shows how TINY it is! An adult gray whale in the summer feeding grounds eats approximately 2,400 pounds of food a day.
What is the favorite food of some whales?
They are carnivores that love to eat fish. Their teeth are not used for chewing, only for capturing and holding on to the food. Baleen whales feed by filtering or straining food from the water. They love to eat krill, fish, zooplankton, phytoplankton, and algae .
Are GREY whales bottom feeders?
They remain in these calving lagoons for several months, allowing the calves to build up a thick blubber layer before heading back into colder waters. Grey whales are primarily bottom feeders that consume a wide range of invertebrates, such as amphipods, and tube worms found in bottom sediments.
Do GREY whales eat krill?
According to Lindberg, gray whales were once thought to feed only by suctioning seafloor sediment and filtering out worms and amphipods – so-called benthic organisms. But some whales are now eating herring and krill as well , just like their baleen whale relatives, which include the humpback and the blue.
Can whales eat humans?
Despite occasional reports of whales scooping people into their mouths, it’s incredibly rare—and for all but one species, swallowing a human is physically impossible . On Friday, a lobster diver made headlines when he described miraculously surviving being “swallowed” by a humpback whale off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
What is blue whale food?
The primary diet of blue whales is krill—tiny shrimp-like animals , but fish and copepods (tiny crustaceans) may occasionally be part of the blue whale’s diet.
What is a gray whale lifespan?
The average and maximum lifespan of gray whales is unknown , although one female was estimated at 75 to 80 years old after death.
How deep can a gray whale dive?
Gray whales are usually found in shallow waters, along the continental shelf, so they do not have to dive much deeper than 150 meters (about 500 feet) .
Do GREY whales have teeth?
Since gray whales have no teeth , they capture and strain their baleen, which hangs from the roof of the mouth; grays are the only bottom feeding whales.
Are GREY whales friendly?
Gray whales are known to be very curious and inquisitive, giving them reputation of being the “friendly” whale . They often swim right up to boats and poke their heads vertically out of the water to get a better view of their surroundings in a behavior called spyhopping.
Why are GREY whales important?
Gray whales play an important role in the Arctic ecosystem due to their unique style of bottom-feeding . They create gigantic mud plumes that re-suspend large volumes of nutrients, which in turn enrich life on the seafloor and bring a bounty of bottom-dwelling crustaceans to the surface for seabirds to feast on.
Do gray whales have any predators?
The primary predators of grey whales are transient killer whales , which may attack grey whale calves and yearlings along their migration route.
Do blue whales eat humans?
Despite their large size, blue whales do not eat people . Actually, they couldn’t eat a person no matter how hard they tried to. ... Without teeth, they lack the ability to tear apart their prey, so it would likely be impossible for these baleen whales to eat a human.
How much can a whale eat in a day in tons?
The huge whales can eat up to four tonnes of krill every day. Blue whales lunge through large swarms of krill with their mouths open, taking in more food in one mouthful than any other animal on Earth. Krill make up the vast majority of a blue whale’s diet. The blue whale is a filter-feeder.
Do whales eat sharks?
These marine mammals have been known to attack and eat everything from small fish and turtles to squid, seals, sea lions, and even large whales. ... Killer whales also hunt, attack, and eat sharks .
