Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake
Several animal species use tools for foraging; however, very few manufacture and/or modify those tools. Humpback whales, which manufacture bubble-net tools while foraging, are among these rare species. Using animal-borne tag and unoccupied aerial system technologies, we examine bubble-nets manufactu...
Published in: | Royal Society Open Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/b97058c6-2b2d-4c9f-9023-776f45901b9a https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240328 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201886119&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
id |
ftuniaarhuspubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/b97058c6-2b2d-4c9f-9023-776f45901b9a |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftuniaarhuspubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/b97058c6-2b2d-4c9f-9023-776f45901b9a 2024-09-30T14:38:25+00:00 Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake Szabo, A. Bejder, L. Warick, H. Van Aswegen, M. Friedlaender, A. S. Goldbogen, J. Kendall-Bar, J. M. Leunissen, E. M. Angot, M. Gough, W. T. 2024-08 https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/b97058c6-2b2d-4c9f-9023-776f45901b9a https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240328 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201886119&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/b97058c6-2b2d-4c9f-9023-776f45901b9a info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Szabo , A , Bejder , L , Warick , H , Van Aswegen , M , Friedlaender , A S , Goldbogen , J , Kendall-Bar , J M , Leunissen , E M , Angot , M & Gough , W T 2024 , ' Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake ' , Royal Society Open Science , vol. 11 , no. 8 , 240328 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240328 drones energy expenditure foraging behaviour prey manipulation tool-use unoccupied aerial systems article 2024 ftuniaarhuspubl https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240328 2024-09-05T00:45:07Z Several animal species use tools for foraging; however, very few manufacture and/or modify those tools. Humpback whales, which manufacture bubble-net tools while foraging, are among these rare species. Using animal-borne tag and unoccupied aerial system technologies, we examine bubble-nets manufactured by solitary humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Southeast Alaska while feeding on krill. We demonstrate that the nets consist of internally tangential rings and suggest that whales actively control the number of rings in a net, net size and depth and the horizontal spacing between neighbouring bubbles. We argue that whales regulate these net structural elements to increase per-lunge prey intake by, on average, sevenfold. We measured breath rate and swimming and lunge kinematics to show that the resulting increase in prey density does not increase energetic expenditure. Our results provide a novel insight into how bubble-net tools manufactured by solitary foraging humpback whales act to increase foraging efficiency. Article in Journal/Newspaper Megaptera novaeangliae Alaska Aarhus University: Research Royal Society Open Science 11 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Aarhus University: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftuniaarhuspubl |
language |
English |
topic |
drones energy expenditure foraging behaviour prey manipulation tool-use unoccupied aerial systems |
spellingShingle |
drones energy expenditure foraging behaviour prey manipulation tool-use unoccupied aerial systems Szabo, A. Bejder, L. Warick, H. Van Aswegen, M. Friedlaender, A. S. Goldbogen, J. Kendall-Bar, J. M. Leunissen, E. M. Angot, M. Gough, W. T. Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake |
topic_facet |
drones energy expenditure foraging behaviour prey manipulation tool-use unoccupied aerial systems |
description |
Several animal species use tools for foraging; however, very few manufacture and/or modify those tools. Humpback whales, which manufacture bubble-net tools while foraging, are among these rare species. Using animal-borne tag and unoccupied aerial system technologies, we examine bubble-nets manufactured by solitary humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Southeast Alaska while feeding on krill. We demonstrate that the nets consist of internally tangential rings and suggest that whales actively control the number of rings in a net, net size and depth and the horizontal spacing between neighbouring bubbles. We argue that whales regulate these net structural elements to increase per-lunge prey intake by, on average, sevenfold. We measured breath rate and swimming and lunge kinematics to show that the resulting increase in prey density does not increase energetic expenditure. Our results provide a novel insight into how bubble-net tools manufactured by solitary foraging humpback whales act to increase foraging efficiency. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Szabo, A. Bejder, L. Warick, H. Van Aswegen, M. Friedlaender, A. S. Goldbogen, J. Kendall-Bar, J. M. Leunissen, E. M. Angot, M. Gough, W. T. |
author_facet |
Szabo, A. Bejder, L. Warick, H. Van Aswegen, M. Friedlaender, A. S. Goldbogen, J. Kendall-Bar, J. M. Leunissen, E. M. Angot, M. Gough, W. T. |
author_sort |
Szabo, A. |
title |
Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake |
title_short |
Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake |
title_full |
Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake |
title_fullStr |
Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake |
title_full_unstemmed |
Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake |
title_sort |
solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/b97058c6-2b2d-4c9f-9023-776f45901b9a https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240328 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201886119&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
genre |
Megaptera novaeangliae Alaska |
genre_facet |
Megaptera novaeangliae Alaska |
op_source |
Szabo , A , Bejder , L , Warick , H , Van Aswegen , M , Friedlaender , A S , Goldbogen , J , Kendall-Bar , J M , Leunissen , E M , Angot , M & Gough , W T 2024 , ' Solitary humpback whales manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake ' , Royal Society Open Science , vol. 11 , no. 8 , 240328 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240328 |
op_relation |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/b97058c6-2b2d-4c9f-9023-776f45901b9a |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240328 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
8 |
_version_ |
1811641068083478528 |