Scar from Orca attack
Humpback whales are one of the largest baleen whales in existence and can grow up to 12-16m in length and weigh about 80,000 lbs. You may be wondering how these giant beasts can grow up to be so huge without having teeth to eat large prey? Well, baleen is very useful when you want to eat large schools of krill and small fish. The humpback whale will open its mouth and thousands of krill and small fish will get stuck in its baleen. The humpback will then close its mouth and use its tongue to pull out the animals stuck in its baleen so it can swallow them. Pleated grooves located inside the whale's mouth help drain the water initially taken in, filtering out the prey. You may hear that humpback whales are almost extinct, which is partially true because they were once hunted to the brink of extinction. Its population fell almost 90% before a 1966 moratorium on hunting them. They have recovered since then but fishing nets, ships and noise pollution continue to impact the worldwide population of about 80,000 humpbacks. Orcas are also known for hunting small juvenile humpback whales which explain the giant scars sometimes found on their bodies. Humpback whales are fascinating creatures and we have so much more to learn from them like why they sing.
Baleen
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale
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