Animalscaretips
About the Species. Blue whales are the largest animals ever to live on our planet. They feed almost exclusively on krill, straining huge volumes of ocean water through their baleen plates (which hang from the roof of the mouth and work like a sieve). Some of the biggest individuals may eat up to 6 tons of krill a day.
- What are three things blue whales eat?
- What food do whales eat?
- Do blue whales eat anything besides krill?
- How often do blue whales eat?
What are three things blue whales eat?
Blue whales eat mostly krill. Fin whales eat krill, copepods, squids, and variety of small schooling fishes.
What food do whales eat?
All of them feed on krill, but sometimes include other sea creatures in their diets, such as copepod crustaceans and small fish. Humpback and Bryde's whales also actively hunt for small schooling fish such as herring and anchovies.
Do blue whales eat anything besides krill?
Rarely do blue whales eat anything besides krill, but when they do the food is usually crustacean species, including copepods and amphipods. Pelagic red crabs, Pleurocodes planipes, are also on the menu blue whales.
How often do blue whales eat?
An individual blue whale, for example, eats an average of 16 tons of food every day—about three times more than scientists had thought. (Learn more about the hidden world of whale culture.)
