Using A Technique Known As Bubble Netting, Humpback Whales Blow Air Bubbles While Hunting To Confuse And Ensnare Their Prey

Humpback whales have a unique skill that involves blowing air bubbles to confuse and ensnare their prey, much like using a net. The hunting technique is called “bubble netting.”

Researchers claim that the behavior demonstrates the use and manipulation of tools, placing humpback whales among the rare group of animals that create and wield their own hunting tools.

Experts have known for a while that humpback whales use bubble netting to capture krill and other prey, but a recent study from the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology and the Alaska Whale Foundation has discovered that they also modify these nets based on hunting conditions, ensuring they catch the most food possible.

The research team traveled to Frederick Sound and the lower Stephens Passage in southeast Alaska on July 14, 2019, to study the hunting behaviors of humpback whales.

They attached special suction cup tags to the whales and used drones to follow them, collecting data on their movements.

They documented 83 bubble nets produced by solitary whales, which allowed the researchers to examine the shape and size of the bubbles, as well as the distance between the bubbles in the nets.

The team was also able to study diving behavior, breath rates, and lunge kinematics to determine how much energy it took for the whales to build a bubble net.

“We discovered that solitary humpback whales in southeast Alaska craft complex bubble nets to catch krill, which are tiny shrimp-like creatures,” said Lars Bejder, a co-lead author of the study and a marine biologist from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.

“These whales skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form nets with internal rings, actively controlling details like the number of rings, the size and depth of the net, and the spacing between bubbles. This method lets them capture up to seven times more prey in a single feeding dive without using extra energy.”

Le Bouil Baptiste – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual whale

The hunting strategy appears to be a learned behavior. Not all humpback whales practice the same technique, and those that do may employ different strategies. It can also be done cooperatively, with the whales working together to ensure that everyone gets fed.

The findings suggest that humpback whales should be classified among the animals that create and use tools, such as parrots, crows, chimpanzees, and orangutans.

It is more important than ever to know how the whales hunt and forage since they are at risk of extinction due to factors like climate change, pollution, and habitat loss.

After commercial hunting of humpback whales was banned in 1985, their population numbers saw an increase. However, their numbers have experienced a sharp decline between 2012 and 2021.

Learning more about how these creatures thrive can help with efforts to aid their foraging behaviors and conserve their feeding grounds.

The study was published in the Royal Society of Open Science.

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