This video shows how whales "fish" with bubble nets

Marine mammal experts have captured an incredible underwater perspective and images taken by aerial drones of the humpback-powered bubble net.

This is a contribution from the marine mammal research program of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which is studying the causes of a possible decrease in the number of whales at bump.

They used suction cups with cameras and sensors to understand how humpback whales feed and how some whales use bubbles to optimize prey consumption by creating bubble nets.

Beacon data (video and accelerometer), as well as drone data, provide new information on how well whales behave and how often they do it to conserve and gain enough energy. weight before returning to Hawaii to breed and mate.

The observations of the bubble network and the data collection are part of a larger project that investigates the causes of a possible decrease in the number of humpback whales, including changes in the use of the Habitat and the availability of food. related to dam exhaustion and climate change.

Approximately 3,000 humpback whales travel to Alaska during the summer nutrition period and up to 10,000 travel to Hawaii during the winter breeding season. When whales leave their feeding areas and migrate 4,500 km, they stop eating until they come back several months later.

Bubble network research helps scientists understand how humpback whales feed, how often they need to eat, what they eat, and how quickly their bodies change or grow.