A feeding frenzy of 150 whales marks a species’ comeback
Huge pods of southern fin whales have returned to the animals’ historical feeding grounds in Antarctica after a decades-long absence1.
Industrial whaling in the twentieth century drove the southern fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus quoyi) to near-extinction. By the time fin-whale catches were banned in 1976, researchers rarely sighted the animals around the Antarctic Peninsula, a former hotspot. But recent whale surveys there have noted higher numbers of them.
Helena Herr at the University of Hamburg in Germany and her colleagues scanned the seas for fin whales, both from their research vessel and by helicopter. Using models to extrapolate from their observations, the authors estimate that in 2018, 7,909 fin whales were swimming in about 93,000 square kilometres of Antarctic water — a higher density than has been seen at other well-known fin-whale habitats. The authors also witnessed “feeding frenzies” of up to 150 animals devouring krill together. These aggregations are some of the largest groups of feeding baleen whales (whales with filters in their mouths) to be documented.
The authors say that the fin whales’ nutrient-rich faeces could help to reinvigorate the surrounding marine ecosystem, which was damaged by whaling.
Nature 607, 425 (2022)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01910-w
References
1. Herr, H. et al. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13798-7 (2022).
