Humpbacks sometimes blow bubbles underwater, creating a circular “bubble-net” that makes it harder for fish to escape. Now a new study documents the whales using their flippers and these nets to help catch fish. In the horizontal version of this tactic, called pectoral herding, whales at the ocean’s surface splash a flipper to strengthen weak parts of a disintegrating bubble-net (first clip). In vertical pectoral herding, whales raise their flippers in a “V” formation while ascending through the net to guide fish into their mouths (second clip). The research was conducted under NOAA permits #14122 and #18529.
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Video: M. Kosma
