FEEDING ECOLOGY

 

Feeding Methods Of Marine Mammals

Different group of marine mammals have different feeding ecologist.

Mysticetes, (baleen whales) feed on shoaling fishes & small invertebrates. They are batch feeders taking in large amounts of prey and filtering them with fringes on the inside of their baleen plates. Most Balaenopterids are “gulpers” which means lunge through prey patch which they filter their food from sea water and then swallow.

Right & bowhead whales are much less active in feeding. They are “skimmers” which swim slowly through patches of prey and filter the prey as the water flows through baleen plates.

Anatomical Features with Filter Feeding In Crab eater seal And Gray whale

The gray whale employs yet a different feeding strategy is a “Sucker”. Gray whales use suction inside their mouth to pull in a batch of amphipods or other invertebrates. 

Anatomical Features With Suction Feeding In Walrus And North Sea beaked Whale

The toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises take in individual prey items, generally one at a time. They feed mostly on fishes & squids, which are located and captured with the aid of echolocation or sonar.

The killer whale is the only cetacean species that regularly feeds on other marine mammals and almost all marine mammals groups may become killer whale prey at one time or another.

Anatomical Features With Biting Feeding
1.Crushing( Sea Otter)
2.Grip-and-Tear(Leopard Seal)
3.Pierce( Southern Sea lion) and (Amazon River Dolphin)

 

Anatomical Features With Grazing Feeding In African Manatee, Desmostylia And Aquatic Sloth

The Pinnipeds generally feed on fishes and squids, although some take primarily invertebrates such as krill. Seals& Sea lions take in prey items individually, and almost always feed solitarily.

The Sirenians are all herbivores, and therefore do not need to be particularly fast or maneuverable to catch prey. Manatees feed mostly on water hyacinths and other aquatic plants. Dugongs feed mostly on sea grasses and leaving feeding trails in sea grass beds where they have been active.

The Marine Fissipediae sea otter feeds mostly on invertebrates, such as crabs, clams, mussels and sea urchins. Sea otter often use rocks as tools to break apart the hard shells of their prey.

Polar bears feed mostly on seals although they do also take beluga whales and even large fish. A common technique is for a polar bear to wait by a breathing hole and the snatch a seal from the hole as it comes to breath.

Pictorial Representation Of Feeding Pattern