Humpback whale feeding on herring, Bay of Fundy, 1998.

This is the last stage in the feeding squence of a humpback whale. The whale has just surfaced with its mouth wide open and has taken in a large shoal of herring. The mouth was then closed, forcing the water out through the baleen plates, retaining the fish in the mouth and in the huge throat pouch. Note the water cascading from the mouth and the hugely extended throat to the right of the picture.

©Aberdeen University/Martyn Gorman Humpback whale feeding