Page 67 - World of Animals - Issue #41

The humpback whale
Step 1 Teamwork
Bubble nets When hunting, each humpback
in the pod has a unique job to do,
and the bubble net only works

Humpbacks display an ingenious when the animals work in unison.
feat of teamwork for nabbing krill
Bubble netting is an amazing method that
h u m p b a c k w h a l e s u s e t o r o u n d u p t h e i r
humpback whales use to round up their
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f favourite food. It works by diving deep
u n d e r w a t e r b e f o r e e x p e l l i n g a s t r e a m o f
underwater before expelling a stream of
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bubbles while swimming upwards in a
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spiral, using the bubbles to ‘net’ the krill! The
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whales can then help themselves to a meal. .
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Step 2
Net release
Another whale will swim in
circles just above the shoal
and let out a fizz of bubbles in

a circle, to cast the bubble net.
Sound blast
The whales start to circle. One
whale will swim beneath the
shoal and let out a loud cry,
scaring the prey up to the surface.
Fish herding Step 3
The other whales begin to circle
the shoal of fish or krill, bringing

it into a tighter bait ball and
preventing any form of escape.
No escape
As the blast of sound and
the herding whales cajole
the shoal into the net, the
prey is then well contained.
The feast
The whales can then
begin to feed, starting
underneath and using
their strong tails to propel
them upward to get the
biggest mouthful possible.
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