In the northern population of humpback whales, fish constitute 95% of the total diet. This herring, mackerel, sardines, anchovies and others. The stomach of a humpback can contain more than half a ton of food.
An interesting feature of the humpback whale is the variety of ways with which the whale feeds. It happens that several whales participate in feeding at the same time.
When a whale is alone, it swims into a flock of fish or plankton with its mouth open, swallowing food along with the water, which it then filters through its tamped apparatus. Or a single whale stuns the fish with the blow of its tail fin, floating along a large circle around a flock of fish.
When the whales gather in packs, they surround a flock of fish and whip the foam around it, through which the fish can not escape. Then the whales one at a time dive under the doorpost and open their mouths with open mouths.
Sometimes the whale dives under a flock of fish and exhales the air surrounding the jamb with air bubbles. These bubbles introduce fish into confusion and mask the whale, which is raised above the surface and swallows the prey from the bottom.
Often whales, coordinating their actions, almost completely eat a large flock of sardines. Their group hunting is an example of one of the most complex joint actions among marine mammals.
The humpback often flaps his long fins and tail on the surface of the water, whipped the foam, rolls onto his back, expose his muzzle. Sometimes the humpback completely jumps out of the water vertically upwards and falls deafeningly down. Scientists believe that thus the whale gets rid of parasites living on its body. It is humpbacks, more than other striped ones, overgrowing with crustaceans, whale lice, sea ditches and others, and on its whale bug round worm odontobiusy.
