Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32863564›Full record

ArticleMarine Mammal Science2019

New views of humpback whale flow dynamics and oral morphology during prey engulfment.

Alexander J Werth, Madison M Kosma, Ellen M Chenoweth, Janice M Straley

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Marine Mammal Science, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Closing the air gap: the use of drones for studying wildlife ecophysiology.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Predator-informed looming stimulus experiments reveal how large filter feeding whales capture highly maneuverable forage fish.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2020
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Alexander J WerthDepartment of Biology, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, Virginia 23943, U.S.A.
Madison M KosmaCollege of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau, Alaska 99801, U.S.A.
Ellen M ChenowethCollege of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Sitka, Alaska 99835, U.S.A.
Janice M StraleyDepartment of Natural Sciences, University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka, Alaska 99835, U.S.A.

Funding

Biomedical Learning and Student Training (BLaST) ProgramUL1GM118991 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS · PI HUEFFER, KARSTEN · 2015 to 2023
$19.0M
Biomedical Learning and Student Training (BLaST) ProgramRL5GM118990 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS · PI HUEFFER, KARSTEN, REYNOLDS, ARLEIGH JAMES · 2015 to 2023
$10.5M
Biomedical Learning and Student Training (BLaST) ProgramTL4GM118992 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS · PI HUEFFER, KARSTEN, REYNOLDS, ARLEIGH JAMES · 2015 to 2023
$7.1M
NIGMS NIH HHS RL5 GM118990NIGMS NIH HHS TL4 GM118992NIGMS NIH HHS UL1 GM118991
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The rise of inexpensive, user-friendly cameras and editing software promises to revolutionize data collection with minimal disturbance to marine mammals. Video sequences recorded by aerial drones and GoPro cameras provided close-up views and unique perspectives of humpback whales engulfing juvenile salmon at or just below the water surface in Southeast Alaska and Prince William Sound. Although humpback feeding is famous for its flexibility, several stereotyped events were noted in the 47 lunges we analyzed. Engulfment was rapid (mean 2.07 s), and the entrance through which the tongue inverts into the ventral pouch was seen as water rushes in. Cranial elevation was a major contributor to gape, and pouch contraction sometimes began before full gape closure, with reverberating waves indicating rebounding flow of water within the expanded pouch. Expulsion of filtered water began with a small splash at the anterior of the mouth, followed by sustained excurrent flow in the mouth's central or posterior regions. Apart from a splash of rebounding water, water within the mouth was surprisingly turbulence-free during engulfment, but submersion of the whale's head created visible surface whirlpools and vortices which may aggregate prey for subsequent engulfment.

Indexed as

anatomybaleenfeedinghumpback whaleMegaptera novaeangliaemysticeterorqualtongue

Identifiers

PMID32863564
PMCPMC7449129

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.