Genetic differences and food preferences What adaptations do blue whales have for eating krill?

May 21, 2020 ... Killer whales are apex predators. They're the most powerful killer in our oceans, capable of tackling massive prey like blue whales and even ... A blue whale eats krill almost exclusively, consuming up to 7,900 pounds (3,600 kg) of these tiny, shrimplike invertebrates daily. That's about 40 million krill ... They dine by straining huge volumes of ocean water through their baleen plates (which are like the teeth of a comb), leaving their tummies full of tons of tiny ... of krill each day for about 120 days. It is estimated to take 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs.) of food to fill a blue whale's stomach. Gray whales eat about 150,000 kg ( ... Their expandable throat groves allow them to gulp huge volumes of water, which they push back out through the baleen, trapping their prey inside like a giant ... The blue whale's primary diet consists almost exclusively of krill, a small oceanic creature that generally measures 1-2 centimeters long. Dec 4, 2020 ... Due to their size, blue whales are not often preyed upon, though pods of marine mammal eating orca whales will sometimes attack and share ... Apr 14, 2023 ... The relationship between animals and their food is often more complicated than we realize! For blue whales, the pursuit of a meal is a ... Jan 16, 2020 ... There is plenty of krill in the ocean. One of the main constraints to eating, for baleen whales, is to open their mouths wide enough to swallow ... Aug 18, 2015 ... However, in most cases they will consume as much of a whale (typically baleen, or blue whales) as they desire. In fact, whalers hate them ...