Bubble net feeding is spreading into humpback whale populations in the Canadian Pacific and researchers think it might have been introduced by whales from other areas, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Bubble net feeding is when humpback whales work together to herd fish into a tight group, blowing a curtain of bubbles so they can’t escape and driving them up to the surface to gobble them up. It’s actually seen as an example of the clever cetaceans using tools.
Tourists flock to Alaska from around the world to see this impressive spectacle but it’s also starting to be seen among Canadian humpbacks.
This could be because immigrant whales have arrived in the area and are ‘importing’ the clever strategy by teaching it to whales who didn’t know how to do it.
“Bubble-net feeding isn’t just a foraging trick,” says lead author Dr Éadin O’Mahony, a researcher at the University of St Andrews, in a statement. “It’s a form of shared knowledge that strengthens the resilience of the entire population.”
The study shows the importance of whale culture as species recover from whaling. “Cultural loss can be just as damaging as population loss and potentially just as hard to restore,” O’Mahony says.
“Protecting areas where distinct learned behaviours are concentrated could deliver conservation benefits that ripple far beyond local waters.”
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Top image: Humpback whales bubble netting. Credit: North Coast Cetatean Society
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