Baleen Hydrodynamics and Morphology of Cross-Flow Filtration in Balaenid Whale Suspension Feeding
The traditional view of mysticete feeding involves static baleen directly sieving particles from seawater using a simple, dead-end flow-through filtration mechanism. Flow tank experiments on bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) baleen indicate the long-standing model of dead-end filtration, at least in bala...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4769178 2023-05-15T15:36:00+02:00 Baleen Hydrodynamics and Morphology of Cross-Flow Filtration in Balaenid Whale Suspension Feeding Werth, Alexander J. Potvin, Jean 2016-02-26 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4769178/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26918630 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150106 en eng Public Library of Science http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4769178/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26918630 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150106 © 2016 Werth, Potvin http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. CC-BY Research Article Text 2016 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150106 2016-03-20T01:16:29Z The traditional view of mysticete feeding involves static baleen directly sieving particles from seawater using a simple, dead-end flow-through filtration mechanism. Flow tank experiments on bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) baleen indicate the long-standing model of dead-end filtration, at least in balaenid (bowhead and right) whales, is not merely simplistic but wrong. To recreate continuous intraoral flow, sections of baleen were tested in a flume through which water and buoyant particles circulated with variable flow velocity. Kinematic sequences were analyzed to investigate movement and capture of particles by baleen plates and fringes. Results indicate that very few particles flow directly through the baleen rack; instead much water flows anteroposteriorly along the interior (lingual) side of the rack, allowing items to be carried posteriorly and accumulate at the posterior of the mouth where they might readily be swallowed. Since water flows mainly parallel to rather than directly through the filter, the cross-flow mechanism significantly reduces entrapment and tangling of minute items in baleen fringes, obviating the need to clean the filter. The absence of copepods or other prey found trapped in the baleen of necropsied right and bowhead whales supports this hypothesis. Reduced through-baleen flow was observed with and without boundaries modeling the tongue and lips, indicating that baleen itself is the main if not sole agent of crossflow. Preliminary investigation of baleen from balaenopterid whales that use intermittent filter feeding suggests that although the biomechanics and hydrodynamics of oral flow differ, cross-flow filtration may occur to some degree in all mysticetes. Text Balaena mysticetus Copepods PubMed Central (PMC) PLOS ONE 11 2 e0150106 |
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Research Article Werth, Alexander J. Potvin, Jean Baleen Hydrodynamics and Morphology of Cross-Flow Filtration in Balaenid Whale Suspension Feeding |
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Research Article |
description |
The traditional view of mysticete feeding involves static baleen directly sieving particles from seawater using a simple, dead-end flow-through filtration mechanism. Flow tank experiments on bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) baleen indicate the long-standing model of dead-end filtration, at least in balaenid (bowhead and right) whales, is not merely simplistic but wrong. To recreate continuous intraoral flow, sections of baleen were tested in a flume through which water and buoyant particles circulated with variable flow velocity. Kinematic sequences were analyzed to investigate movement and capture of particles by baleen plates and fringes. Results indicate that very few particles flow directly through the baleen rack; instead much water flows anteroposteriorly along the interior (lingual) side of the rack, allowing items to be carried posteriorly and accumulate at the posterior of the mouth where they might readily be swallowed. Since water flows mainly parallel to rather than directly through the filter, the cross-flow mechanism significantly reduces entrapment and tangling of minute items in baleen fringes, obviating the need to clean the filter. The absence of copepods or other prey found trapped in the baleen of necropsied right and bowhead whales supports this hypothesis. Reduced through-baleen flow was observed with and without boundaries modeling the tongue and lips, indicating that baleen itself is the main if not sole agent of crossflow. Preliminary investigation of baleen from balaenopterid whales that use intermittent filter feeding suggests that although the biomechanics and hydrodynamics of oral flow differ, cross-flow filtration may occur to some degree in all mysticetes. |
format |
Text |
author |
Werth, Alexander J. Potvin, Jean |
author_facet |
Werth, Alexander J. Potvin, Jean |
author_sort |
Werth, Alexander J. |
title |
Baleen Hydrodynamics and Morphology of Cross-Flow Filtration in Balaenid Whale Suspension Feeding |
title_short |
Baleen Hydrodynamics and Morphology of Cross-Flow Filtration in Balaenid Whale Suspension Feeding |
title_full |
Baleen Hydrodynamics and Morphology of Cross-Flow Filtration in Balaenid Whale Suspension Feeding |
title_fullStr |
Baleen Hydrodynamics and Morphology of Cross-Flow Filtration in Balaenid Whale Suspension Feeding |
title_full_unstemmed |
Baleen Hydrodynamics and Morphology of Cross-Flow Filtration in Balaenid Whale Suspension Feeding |
title_sort |
baleen hydrodynamics and morphology of cross-flow filtration in balaenid whale suspension feeding |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4769178/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26918630 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150106 |
genre |
Balaena mysticetus Copepods |
genre_facet |
Balaena mysticetus Copepods |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4769178/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26918630 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150106 |
op_rights |
© 2016 Werth, Potvin http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
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CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150106 |
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PLOS ONE |
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11 |
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e0150106 |
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