Whale Intelligence Is Astonishing. This Is Why They Create Enormous Circles in the Water.

Seeing whales in the ocean is an unforgettable experience, especially when they create impressive bubble circles in the water.

For years scientists have assumed that whales, like dolphins, are highly intelligent animals. It was already known that they use an impressive method for hunting fish and crustaceans. They create and use air bubbles to form "nets". Researchers have finally discovered how these nets work.

The humpback whale is one of the largest types of whale; adults are between 12 and 16 meters long. In a recent study, a team of scientists examined humpback whales living off the southeastern coast of Alaska. To learn more about their hunting methods, the researchers came up with a creative way to provoke a response from the whales. They used drones to create bubble nets on the water's surface. They also attached non-invasive cameras and sensors to the animals to see what they would do.

They were able to document 83 bubble nets created by the whales. The recordings showed that humpback whales don't just create bubbles; they modify them to capture seven times more food in a single dive without expending extra energy.

The whales dive to great depths and then swim in circles around a school of prey, blowing large bubbles as they go. They slowly ascend to the surface, effectively forming a cylindrical bubble wall from which the crustaceans and fish cannot escape. If they tried, the fish would be thrown back towards the centre of the spiral. The whales have created a special and intelligent hunting tool that allows them to capture their prey efficiently. 

"Humpback whales in southeastern Alaska create complex bubble nets to catch crustaceans. They blow them in several circles and actively control details such as the number of circles, the size and depth of the net, and the distance between the bubbles," said one of the researchers, marine biologist Lars Bader.

The most important part of the scientists' discovery is that, according to experts, this behavior is a learned skill that not all whales can acquire to the same extent. "Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few create or modify them themselves," Bader said in an interview with The Independent.