I remember watching a documentary once and learned that whales need to eat tonnes (literally) of krill per day to survive. I don’t understand why this is better than eating small amounts of large fishes instead.
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Another item that no one mentioned so far – bioaccumulation is a large issue for sea life since pretty much everything is predatory. It’s actually healthier to eat krill than salmon or tuna due to the amount of toxins that accumulate in larger animals.
This is why orcas have a huge discrepancy in female vs male lifespans – that blue and humpback whales don’t. The females of orcas offload a lot of toxins by giving birth – and the first born tends to not survive. So male orcas live to 30 and females live to 60-80 or more. Of course it depends on their diet and it’s worse/ better for some pods vs others.
While it’s true that whales need to eat a lot – they can also fast for months at a time. They are very efficient swimmers and have a lot of reserves. This is why they will travel to the far reaches of the planet for very specific events that let them feast. Like herring migration to Alaska.
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