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Video frame grab of Omura's whales feeding on krill.

Video frame grab of Omura's whales feeding on krill.
Video frame grab of Omura's whales feeding on krill.
Video frame grab of Omura's whales feeding on krill.
Video frame grab of Omura's whales feeding on krill.
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290043
Cerchio, Salvatore
Video frame grab of Omura's whales feeding on krill.
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11/18/2015
vlcsnap-2015-11-18-17h56m34s736.jpg
Image Of the Day caption:
In 2013 New England Aquarium whale researcher and WHOI guest investigator Salvatore Cerchio and his colleagues discovered some of the world's rarest whales living off Madagascar. Omura's whales, recognized as a species in 2003, were only known from remains and bones, with no confirmed live sightings. Cerchio and his team returned to Madagascar in 2014 and 2015 to study the whales and record their calls and feeding behavior. When feeding, these slim whales expand their throats to engulf large volumes of water and krill. Research permit: Madagascar Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National de Recherches Oceanographiques, Ordre de Mission No. 13-15/CNRO.
Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 52, No. 1, pg 10:
Researchers captured the feeding behavior of Omura's whales for the first time on video. The whales expand their long throat pleats, creating a large round bulge below their jaws, so that they can engorge a tremendous amount of water filled with krill--their tiny shrimplike food. The whales trap the food on their baleen, expel the water, and then swallow the food.
Research permit information:
Madagascar Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National de Recherches Oceanographiques, Ordre de Mission No. 13-15/CNRO.
Photo by Salvatore Cerchio
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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