People have witnessed whales rising up in the water, under a school of tiny fish in a feeding process called lunge feeding. How are these giant mammals able to stretch their mouths open so wide without tearing the nerves in their mouths? Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver now have the answer.
Research Reveals Bungee-Like Nerve in Whale’s Mouths
Lunge feeding causes the whale’s tongue to be forced upside down, opening up and turning the bottom of their mouths into a giant tub. The water surges into this tub and the filters in the whale’s mouth force the fish and krill into their throats while special plates in the mouth sift out the seawater. It appears that whales, like the fin and blue whale, have mouth nerves that stretch twice their normal size during lunge feeding as the whales travel to the surface to gulp in the water and prey. Unlike it would with other animals, including humans, the whales’ mouth nerves are undamaged in this evolution and are made for this very purpose of eating huge amounts of food at a time.
Lunge Feeding Common in Baleen Whales
The lunge feeding process is common in the baleen whales, which includes whales like fin, blue, humpback, minke, sei, Omur, Bryde’s, Eden’s, and Antartic minke. The researchers discovered the stretching ability of the whales’ mouths when they examined the body of a fin whale. In addition to this quality, these kinds of whales also have a pleat-like area of skin from their chins to their navels that widens out like a balloon during the lunge feeding process. Their mouth nerves have an elastin-like property that allows them to literally unfold as the lunge feeding takes place.
Study of Whale Lunge Feeding Could Aid in Helping to Repair Injuries
According to the scientists from the UBC Cellular and Physiological Sciences Department, who are currently studying this phenomenon, the whales are thought to have developed this special nerve type to help them survive by being able to eat large amounts of food at once. The researchers hope that their study, which was printed in the Current Biology science journal, could one day help doctors repair stretched nerves in humans, as this is a common injury. Human nerves do not stretch. Thus, they can overextend themselves, causing the nerve to rip.
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