Humpback whale joins elite list of animals known to make and use tools
The IndependentThe best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Many animals use tools to help them find food but very few actually create or modify the tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, an author of the study, published on Tuesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science. Humpbacks use bubble nets to capture many fish at once The careful approach, “wholly unique” to humpbacks, lets the behemoths capture up to seven times more prey in a single feeding dive without using extra energy. “This impressive behaviour places humpback whales among the rare group of animals that both make and use their own tools for hunting,” Dr Bejder said. “We deployed non-invasive suction-cup tags on whales and flew drones over solitary bubble-netting humpback whales in southeast Alaska, collecting data on their underwater movements,” Dr Gough said.
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