Whale Cam: Watch a humpback whale accelerate through a school of anchovies

In this footage from the whale’s back, a humpback whale picks up speed for a fast, open-mouthed lunge through a school of anchovies. Dolphins race ahead of the whale, likely catching a ride on the bow-wave of the whale’s giant nose, as they might do in front of a boat.

Researchers captured this video through the cameras of a small device about the size of two smartphones, suction-cupped to the whale’s back. Like a smartphone, the temporary whale-cams have accelerometers to record motion, GPS locators, and video cameras.

From the data collected by these small whale cams, researchers can estimate the thrust, or force, with which a whale propels itself forward through the water and how efficiently the energy required to beat its tail translates into forward swimming speed. Understanding the physics of whale movement helps scientists calculate the giants’ energy requirements and how efficiently they use their limited food supply to fuel long migrations.

A new study based on recordings like this one, presented at Wednesday, February 19 at the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020 in San Diego, California, found the thrust blue, humpback and minke whales produce from their tails is about the same when body size is accounted for.

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Credit: Goldbogen Lab, Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University under NMFS Scientific Research permit #16111

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