A humpback whale breaches off the coast of California. (IMAGE)
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New research published today in the journal Nature finds that gigantic baleen whales—such as blue, fin and humpback whales—eat an average of three times more food each year than scientists have previously estimated. By underestimating how much these whales eat, scientists may also have been previously underestimating the importance of these undersea giants to ocean health and productivity. For years, one of the basic biological questions that remained unanswered about the world’s biggest whales was how much these massive filter-feeding baleen whales ate each day. The best estimates from past research were guesses informed by few actual measurements from the species in question.
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Matthew Savoca
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