Video footage challenges long-held 'feast or famine' humpback theory
australiangeographic.com.au
New video footage catches humpback whales eating during their supposed starvation migration — challenging decades of "feast or famine" science.
Feast or Famine HypothesisOptimal Foraging TheoryEnergy Budget ModelingBehavioral Ecology
Theory Briefing
- Humpbacks were long believed to fast entirely during their thousands-kilometre migration from Antarctic feeding grounds to warm breeding waters.
- New video footage appears to show whales actively feeding along the migration route, directly contradicting the starvation-phase assumption.
- The theory held that fat reserves built on Antarctic krill were the sole fuel for migration and breeding — footage puts that in doubt.
- If humpbacks opportunistically feed mid-migration, energy budget models used in conservation planning may need significant revision.