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Food for Giants

April 28, 2018

Blue whales are the largest animals on Earth, often reaching 70 to 90 feet—the length of two school buses. But when it comes to food, these giant marine mammals rely on some of the ocean’s tiniest organisms: shrimplike krill (pictured) and other zooplankton. At their peak feeding season, blue whales can eat two to four tons of krill every day. These krill were caught in a net tow during WHOI researcher Alex Bocconcelli’s 2018 blue whale tagging expedition off Chile. The researchers also used an echosounder to map the whales’ prey. The multiyear project is a collaboration with the Chilean nonprofit Fundación MERI. (Photo courtesy of Dani Casado, MERI)