how does it work?
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Point of order – blowholes aren’t for ejecting water. They’re for handling air.
Whales are mammals. They breathe air.
From watching my fish:
Step 1: inhale the food
Step 2: blast the water out of your gills
Step 3: chew on it for a while
Step 4: realize that’s your own poop and spit it out
Aquatic mammals push water back out through their teeth instead of gills. Baleen whales even have highly specialized comb teeth to catch even the tiniest creatures.
Blowholes are not for expelling water taken in when feeding. Let’s get that out of the way. Blowholes are literally the whales’ nostril – they draw in air through them and when they surface, they first expel any water that may have entered their lungs when they drew their last breath.
Filter feeding animals have baleen – a colander-like mesh of bone-like growth attached to their jaws. They take in a mouthful of water, close their mouths so that just the baleen is showing and then use their tongues to press water through the baleen, leaving behind anything too big to fit through the filter (mostly krill and small aquatic animals).
Non-filter feeders either expel water through their mouths or swallow some of it and pass it through their bodies much the same way we do.
Whales snatch up a load of water including little fish, krill, plankton and whatever the hell. Once they close their mouth their brushlike teeth kinda lock so they can remove as much water as possible without loosing their prey. Swallow. Repeat.
For dolphins, Seals and others try eating an apple underwater, after a couple bites you know how to eat underwater without swalloing much water
Aquatic animals are almost perpetually drinking and urinating. An abundance of salt in the water makes it very easy for them to move water around and allows them to use the energy efficient but highly toxic ammonia for their nitrogen waste. As such they pass a lot of water through their systems both for breath and waste management.
Grabbing an extra mouthful or two with their food is of little impact compared to their usual intake
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