Why do whales eat a huge amount of small fishes instead of a few large ones?

Question

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.

In: 298

Answer 1

Filter feeding whales are the largest animals that have ever lived on this planet. The blue whale is THE largest animal that has ever lived, it dwarfs something like a brontosaurus by weight. Your question answers itself in a way. The reason that filter feeders eat tons of krill is that this is the most efficient method of feeding. Krill exist in a big cloud and they can’t get away from a lunging whale fast enough.