Date: February 26, 2019
Source: Oregon State University
Blue
whales reach their massive size by relying on their exceptional memories to
find historically productive feeding sites rather than responding in real time
to emerging prey patches, a new study concludes.
Researchers
examining records of both whale migration and oceanic conditions in the
California Current Ecosystem found that blue whales almost perfectly match the
timing of their migration to the historical average timing of krill production,
rather than matching the waves of krill availability in any given year.
The
findings suggest that blue whales locate prey by relying on memory to return to
stable, high-quality foraging sites, which historically have served them well
but could make it difficult for the whales to adapt if novel ecosystem changes
emerge as a result of climate change.
Results
of the study are being published next week in Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
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