Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver have discovered why whales are able to take such big gulps of food and water – their incredibly elastic nerves.
According to the new study published earlier in the week in the journal Current Biology, whales have stretchy nerves in their jaws, a peculiarity found in the Rorqual family of whales. Most nerves cannot be stretched, but the jaw nerves on blue whales, fin whales, and other Rorquals can stretch like bungee cords and allow them to literally open wide when taking in food and water. In fact, it can be said that this peculiarity is only found in whales as far as vertebrates, or animals with a spinal column, are concerned.
“This discovery underscores how little we know about even the basic anatomy of the largest animals alive in the oceans today,” said UBC postdoctoral fellow Nick Pyenson. “Our findings add to the growing list of evolutionary solutions that whales evolved in response to new challenges faced in marine environments over millions of years.”
Members of the Rorqual family of whales tend to consume krill, a tiny form of crustacean similar to shrimp, but about as small as the average planktonic crustacean. Each mouthful of food, according to the UBC researchers, could be worth about half a million calories, which should be more than enough to feed these giant whales. The blue whale weighs a maximum 200 tons and is one of the biggest animals on the planet, while the fin whale is similarly large, weighing in at about 130 tons.