BIG LITTLE MYSTERY. (cover story)
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Wong, Kate
- Source
- Scientific American. Apr2023, Vol. 328 Issue 4, p26-35. 10p. 6 Color Photographs.
- Subject
- *WHALES
*WHALE fall
*BALEEN whales
*TOOTHED whales
*COVID-19 pandemic
*WILDLIFE conservation
*SPERM whale
- Language
- ISSN
- 0036-8733
Cruise team leaders Daniel Zitterbart of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a physicist who uses remote sensing methods to study the behavior and ecology of whales and penguins, and whale behavior specialist Kylie Owen of the Swedish Museum of Natural History wondered whether whales might be similarly attracted to DMS. Whereas the Antarctic research aims to identify the precise mechanism by which the baleen whales find their prey - whether it's by following DMS gradients to swarms of krill or some other means - the Cape Cod work seeks only to establish whether these whales tend to show up in parts of the ocean where DMS concentrations are higher. Understanding how baleen whales track down their prey could help scientists predict where the whales will go to feed - and better manage human activities in those areas that might harm the whales. HUMPBACK WHALES and other baleen whales are the largest creatures on Earth, yet they eat some of the smallest prey in the oceans. [Extracted from the article]