Unusual Left-Handed Surface Feeding with Bubble Production in Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus)

The use of exhaled bubbles by foraging cetaceans to corral, encircle, or startle prey may constitute tool use (Mann & Patterson, 2013). Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are well known to form closed rings of bubbles to encircle and concen-trate prey for more efficient feeding—both alone and in cooperative groups (Jurasz & Jurasz, 1970; Hain et al., 1982; Friedlaender et al., 2011). Similar behaviour has been documented in Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera brydei; Kot et al., 2014), but the extent to which bubbles are used for prey manip-ulation is less understood for other rorqual spe-cies, including blue (Balaenoptera musculus), fin (Balaenoptera physalus), and minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) whales (Kot et al.,