Blue whales’ diet and exercise rolled into one

Marine predator performs underwater acrobatics for best chance at catching a meal

To catch a skittish lunch, blue whales roll their massive bulk over and do a belly-up lunge if that’s what it takes.

ROLLING IN THE DEEP Blue whales sometimes roll belly-up before lunging at their lunch, a new study suggests. © Ari Friedlaender

Video cameras and high-tech tags stuck to whales’ backs revealed the underwater acrobatics that let the world’s largest living predators survive on some of the tiniest prey, says Jeremy Goldbogen of the Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, Wash.