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Humpback whales herd fish using spiralling columns of bubbles

A team of researchers from the University of Hawaii captured this spectacular footage of humpbacks whales using a technique called bubble-net fishing in the waters near Alaska - Permit 19703 / MMRP / SWNS
A team of researchers from the University of Hawaii captured this spectacular footage of humpbacks whales using a technique called bubble-net fishing in the waters near Alaska - Permit 19703 / MMRP / SWNS

It was once thought that humpback whales simply open their mouths and scoop up huge numbers of fish.

But researchers have found the mammals use their blowholes to create spiralling columns of bubbles which herd fish into a smaller area.

Once trapped, the humpbacks can pick off hundreds of creatures in one huge mouthful.

A team of researchers from the University of Hawaii captured this spectacular footage of humpbacks whales using a technique called bubble-net fishing in the waters near Alaska.

Previously the BBC filmed a similar feat, but the feeding behaviour it has never been officially recorded by scientists until now.

Spiralling bubble 'nets' which herd fish towards a central point - University of Hawai'i at Manoa's Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP) - Credit: Permit 19703 / MMRP / SWNS 
Spiralling bubble 'nets' which herd fish towards a central point - University of Hawai'i at Manoa's Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP) Credit: Permit 19703 / MMRP / SWNS

The researchers used drones to capture a bird's-eye view of the fascinating feeding ritual, while using cameras and sensors applied to the whales by suction cups to gather video and data from the whale's point of view.

Lars Bejder, director of the university's Marine Mammal Research Programme, hailed the footage as "groundbreaking".

Other researchers on the project included the Alaska Whale Foundation working with members of Stanford University's Goldbogen Lab and the Bio-telemetry and Behavioural Ecology Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

He said: “We're observing how these animals are manipulating their prey and preparing the prey for capture. So it is allowing us to gain new insights that really haven't been able to do before.”

A humpback whale  - Credit: Barcroft Media 
A humpback whale Credit: Barcroft Media

Around 3,000 humpback whales visit Alaska during the summer feeding period, and up to 10,000 migrate to Hawaii to breed in the winter.

The humpbacks in the video are preparing to make the long 3,000 mile swim towards warmer winter climes by stuffing their faces with fish - as they don't eat until they return to Alaska several months later.

The footage was captured as part of a project investigating why humpback whale numbers seem to be declining - with the team particularly focussed on how shifts in changes to food availability have been impacted by climate change and depleting krill stocks.

Professor Bejder added: "We have two angles, and the drone's perspective is showing us these bubble nets and how the bubbles are starting to come to the surface and how the animals come up through the bubble net as they surface.

"The cameras on the whales are telling us this from the animal's perspective, so overlaying these two data sets is quite exciting.

"When they get to Alaska it's a foraging ground, and we're trying to understand what that whole migration costs these animals and also how much prey these animals have to consume to maintain this whole migration."

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