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Whales' Bubble Net Fishing | Nature's Great Events | BBC Earth

The humpback whales of Alaska have developed an ingenious method of fishing for herring, but it only works if they all co-operate. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/BBCEarthSub WATCH MORE: New on Earth: https://bit.ly/2M3La96 Oceanscapes: https://bit.ly/2Hmd2kZ Wild Thailand: https://bit.ly/2kR7lmh Welcome to BBC EARTH! The world is an amazing place full of stories, beauty and natural wonder. Here you'll find 50 years worth of astounding, entertaining, thought-provoking and educational natural history content. Dramatic, rare, and exclusive, nature doesn't get more exciting than this. This is a commercial channel from BBC Studios. Service & Feedback https://www.bbcstudios.com/contact/contact-us/

BBC Earth

9 years ago

The Inuit echo to the sound of a mysterious song. A curtain of bubbles and a haunting call hold the secret to an ingenious way of fishing. This is bubble net feeding. A dozen whales work together to harvest the herring bonanza. Such fishing requires an extraordinary level of intelligence and cooperation. The lead whale dives first. She is the bubble blower. It's her job to find the fish. The rest follow in formation. Each takes exactly the same position in every lunge. Once she's located the fis
h, the leader blows a net of bubbles and completely encircles the shoal. Another whale calls to synchronize the group. Panicked by the eerie sound and the blinding bubbles, the fish won't cross this fizzing curtain. As few as a hundred humpbacks have learnt how to feed as a team like this. And this is the only place on the planet where whales fish in this way.

Comments

@twistedscorpio6869

These Giants are awesome... Always melts my heart.

@MHWorldwide

What a capture! Sir David Attenborough. Love.

@iamnaitsirk3091

3:43 one fish gets to live another day...

@shemmytoyou

And as of 2 days ago, Australia is now amongst the very fortunate to have been witness to watching humpbacks feeding in bubble nets,and naturally we are thrilled!

@uesdtosignin1038

3:43 A small fish : I survive 🤣.

@randywilson6366

Our group got to watch a group of 11 humpback whales bubble net feeding on a whale watching tour in Juneau, Alaska, in August 2016. It was awesome! If the video says "This is the only place where they feed this way," then this must have been shot there. Our tour guide said that this is a learned behavior, and only 400 of the 10,000 living humpback whales have learned it so far. They did this about every 10 minutes for the hour we were there.

@utpalwailong4913

This is BEAUTY. Nothing can surpass this. Humans need to realize how lucky we are to be part of this planet.

@ahmermirza

They are the 3G's of the ocean.. Gentle, giant and genius !!!

@dicksonondego5172

The voice of this man , quite unique makes one to listen more

@naomisana8068

This is why I love whales so much, that's because they're so cute💕

@justinstarr6592

I know that I am quite a bit more than two years late, but having gone to Alaska myself recently and being able to to witness and record this magnificent display of teamwork that these whales display is absolutely breathtaking. The amount of skill that these whales need to have in order to work cohesively in this team is simply astonishing. Consider yourself lucky if you ever get to see this happen in person.

@coomerslayer6969

Just shows how intelligent cetaceans truly are. Smarter than we think for sure

@OceanSwimmer101

2:55 R.I.P Headphone users xD

@andreabarrette1062

I witnessed this firsthand just last week while on a whale watching excursion near Juneau Alaska. Our tour operator couldn’t believe what she was seeing-it was amazing and quite rare to witness

@rapini7148

Definitely one of the most interesting creatures on your planet.

@user-pc5mn7sh5g

This video just gave a whole new level to my fear of the ocean XD

@romuloromero2268

Words cannot describe how amazing this is...

@VersionBest

Heck to the yeah David Attenborough narrating!

@engineerabdoibrahim2439

سبحان الله الخالق البارئ المصور البديع

@ProporQQ

3:43 One fish escaped! xD