Baleen whales eat — and poop — a lot more

than we thought
By Jonathan Lambert, Science News for Students on 01.05.22
Word Count 976
Level MAX

New research suggests that baleen whales, including humpbacks like this one, eat a lot more than scientists had realized. Photo: Pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

Whale hunting has plundered the seas of giant whales for much of the last century. With the help
of modern technology, people have killed up to 99 percent of certain species. Some scientists
thought this would cause krill — the tiny crustaceans that many whales gulp down — to explode in
number. But that didn't happen. New research suggests whale poop, or a lack of it, may explain
this.

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Krill numbers in Antarctic waters with lots of whale hunting have dropped by more than 80
percent. With fewer of these crustaceans, many other krill predators have gone hungry, such as
seabirds and fish.

A new study looked at the eating habits of baleen whales (those that use long keratin plates of
baleen to help snag prey). These include blue and humpback whales. Apparently, baleen whales
eat about three times as much food as we thought. Lots more food means lots more poop. That
poop is rich in iron. So with fewer whales, ecosystems get less iron and other crucial nutrients that
they need to thrive. That hurts other species, including krill.

The team shared its findings in the November 4 issue of Nature. Restoring whale populations, the
researchers say, could help these ecosystems recover.

"It's hard to know what role whales play in ecosystems without knowing how much they're eating,"
says Joe Roman. This marine ecologist wasn't involved in the new study. He works at the
University of Vermont in Burlington. How much whales eat had not been well known, he says.
This study will "allow us to better understand how the widespread depletion of whales has
impacted ocean ecosystems."

Whale Of A Problem

Gauging whale diets is not easy. Some of these animals are around the size of Boeing 737 jets. They
gulp down hordes of centimeter-long invertebrates that live far below the surface of the ocean. In
the past, scientists have relied on assessing what these behemoths eat by dissecting the stomachs
of dead whales. Or researchers estimated how much energy whales should need based on their
size.

"These studies were educated guesses," says Matthew Savoca. But, he adds, "none were conducted
on live whales in the wild." Savoca is a marine biologist at Hopkins Marine Station. Part of
Stanford University, it's in Pacific Grove, California.

New technology allowed Savoca and his colleagues to get a more precise estimate of what whales
eat. He notes that this was "a chance to answer a really basic biological question about some of the
most charismatic animals on Earth."

His team needed to know three things. First, how often do whales feed? Second, how big is each of
their gulps of prey? And third, how much food is in each of those gulps? To gather these data, the
team suction-cupped sensors to the backs of 321 whales. They came from seven different species.
The sensors tracked when the whales lunged for prey. Drones also snapped photos of 105 whales
to help the researchers estimate gulp size. Finally, sonar mapping revealed the density of krill in
the whales' feeding areas.

Combining these data provided a more detailed look at feeding than ever before, says Sarah
Fortune. Savoca and his colleagues "measured all the things you need to measure to get an
accurate estimate of consumption." Fortune is a marine ecologist who did not take part in the new
study. She works at Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia.

On average, baleen whales eat about three times as much food as earlier estimates had suggested.
For example, a blue whale can gulp down 16 metric tons (about 35,000 pounds) of krill — about 10

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million to 20 million calories — in a day. That's like one of these supersized creatures wolfing
down 30,000 Big Macs, Savoca says.

Whales don't eat that much every day. At times when the animals are migrating vast distances,
they may go months without taking a bite. But the sheer volume of food that they eat and then
poop out suggests that whales play a far bigger role in shaping ocean ecosystems than we thought,
Savoca says. That makes the loss of whales that much more harmful.

Why Whales Are A Big Deal

Whales are nutrient cyclers. They feed on iron-rich krill in the deep sea. Later, they return some of
that iron to the surface in the form of poop. This helps keep iron and other crucial nutrients in the
food web. Hunting whales might have broken this iron cycle. Fewer whales bring less iron to the
ocean's surface. With less iron there, phytoplankton blooms shrink. Krill and many other creatures
that feast on phytoplankton may now suffer. Such changes will make the ecosystem suffer, Savoca
says.

The industrial hunting of whales killed millions of the huge animals in the 20th century.
Researchers now estimate that before then, baleen whales in the Southern Ocean alone consumed
430 million metric tons of krill each year. Today, less than half that amount of krill lives in those
waters. Smaller whale populations are likely the reason for this, Savoca says. "When you wholesale
remove them, the system becomes, on average, less [healthy]."

Some whale populations are rebounding. If whales and krill returned to their early 1900s
numbers, the productivity of the Southern Ocean could be boosted by 11 percent, the researchers
calculate. That increased productivity would translate into more carbon-rich life, from krill to blue
whales. Together, those creatures would store 215 million metric tons of carbon each year. The
carbon stored in those creatures wouldn't be able to escape into the atmosphere and contribute to
global warming. It would be like taking more than 170 million cars off the road each year.

"Whales are not the solution to climate change," Savoca says. "But rebuilding whale populations
would help a sliver, and we need lots of slivers put together to solve the problem."

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.

Quiz

1 Which sentence from the article shows krill's MAIN problem?

(A) New technology allowed Savoca and his colleagues to get a more precise estimate of what whales eat.

(B) Later, they return some of that iron to the surface in the form of poop.

(C) Some scientists thought this would cause krill — the tiny crustaceans that many whales gulp down — to
explode in number.

(D) So with fewer whales, ecosystems get less iron and other crucial nutrients that they need to thrive.

2 Read the section "Whale Of A Problem." Select the sentence from the section that suggests the feeding habits of baleen whales
can fluctuate.

(A) Finally, sonar mapping revealed the density of krill in the whales’ feeding areas.

(B) Savoca and his colleagues “measured all the things you need to measure to get an accurate estimate of
consumption.”

(C) They gulp down hordes of centimeter-long invertebrates that live far below the surface of the ocean.

(D) At times when the animals are migrating vast distances, they may go months without taking a bite.

3 Read the following paragraph from the article.

Some whale populations are rebounding. If whales and krill returned to their early 1900s
numbers, the productivity of the Southern Ocean could be boosted by 11 percent, the
researchers calculate. That increased productivity would translate into more carbon-rich life, from
krill to blue whales. Together, those creatures would store 215 million metric tons of carbon each
year. The carbon stored in those creatures wouldn’t be able to escape into the atmosphere and
contribute to global warming. It would be like taking more than 170 million cars off the road each
year.

Why did the author include this idea?

(A) It explains why scientists have recently become more interested in studying baleen whales.

(B) It emphasizes that saving baleen whales is the best way to fight global warming.

(C) It introduces the idea that other animals benefit from baleen whales’ feeding habits.

(D) It highlights a specific benefit of increases to the baleen whale population.

4 What does the author do to build an understanding of how much krill is eaten by baleen whales?

(A) He details what scientists discovered when they recently dissected the stomachs of dead baleen
whales.

(B) He compares the calories in the amount of krill a whale can eat in a day with the calories in a well-
known food.

(C) He describes the photographs that scientists took of baleen whales feeding on krill in the Southern
Ocean.

(D) He suggests that the number of krill that whales can eat in a single day could completely fill a Boeing
737 jet.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.