Cheap gulp foraging of a giga-predator enables efficient exploitation of sparse prey

The giant rorqual whales are believed to have a massive food turnover driven by a high-intake lunge feeding style aptly described as the world's largest biomechanical action. This high-drag feeding behavior is thought to limit dive times and constrain rorquals to target only the densest prey patches, making them vulnerable to disturbance and habitat change. Using biologging tags to estimate energy expenditure as a function of feeding rates on 23 humpback whales, we show that lunge feeding is energetically cheap. Such inexpensive foraging means that rorquals are flexible in the quality of prey patches they exploit and therefore more resilient to environmental fluctuations and disturbance. As a consequence, the food turnover and hence the ecological role of these marine giants have likely been overestimated.

Automated summary

Giant rorqual whales have a massive food turnover driven by a high-intake lunge feeding style, which is considered the largest biomechanical action. This feeding behavior, although high-drag, is energetically cheap, allowing rorquals to be flexible in exploiting different prey patches and resilient to environmental fluctuations and disturbance. As a result, the ecological role and food turnover of these marine giants are likely overestimated.