Minkes munch like mad to get their fill of krill

Antarctic minke whales engage in an underwater feeding frenzy, filling their huge mouths up to 100 times an hour as they gorge on prawn-like krill during the summer, new research shows.

Antarctic krill aggregate under the sea ice and attract minke whales to the area, leading to the feeding frenzies

Antarctic minke whales engage in an underwater feeding frenzy, filling their huge mouths up to 100 times an hour as they gorge on prawn-like krill during the summer, new research shows.

The Australian Antarctic Division said it was the first time that the feeding behaviour of the animals under the sea ice had been recorded, and the frenetic pace of the activity was unexpected.

“We were really surprised,” the division’s chief scientist Nick Gales said.

“To actually see it and the incredible number (of lunges at food) and how cleverly they were able to use their behaviour to exploit the krill under the sea ice was amazing.”

Like other baleen whales, the minkes lunge forward with their mouths wide open to collect food, taking on a large volume of water which they then spill out as they trap the fish inside. While the huge blue whale will only do two or three such lunges during a dive for food, the smaller minke can do more than 20, at the rate of up to one every 30 seconds.

“It’s bloody hard work living down in Antarctica getting your prey and these guys when they find their patch they work incredibly hard exploiting what prey is there,” Gales said.

“This is the most frequent number of lunges in this sort of feeding that any baleen whale has been recorded to do.”

The recordings were made possible by satellite tags attached by Australian and US scientists to the animals off the west Antarctic Peninsula.

“The minke’s preferred prey, Antarctic krill, aggregate under the sea ice and attract the whales to the area, leading to these feeding frenzies,” Gales added.

Gales said prior to the study, the movements and diving behaviour of these whales were a mystery.