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Feeding Frenzy

July 29, 2015

WHOI biologist and Marine Mammal Center director Michael Moore, along with John Durban of NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center and colleagues, ventured out into Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary recently with a remote-controlled aerial “drone” to capture images to estimate the body mass and health of whales. In the process of the Ocean Life Institute-funded study, they captured this image of three humpback whales surging to the surface in a behavior known as “bubble-net feeding.” Humpbacks often work together in the rich waters of Stellwagen Bank to trap bait fish such as sand lance in rings of bubbles.(Acquired under National Marine Fisheries Service Permit 17355-01 and NOAA Class G Notification 2015-ESA-4-NOAA flight authorization, Michael Moore, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)