Blue whale's gigantic mouthful measured (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

A blue whale's mouth cavity is so vast and stretchy that it can engulf a volume of water equivalent to its own body mass, say scientists.

The whales - the largest animals on the planet - filter the krill they eat from these huge watery mouthfuls.

Researchers based in the US and Canada studied the giant mammals to find out how much energy they needed to fuel their lunging feeding dives.
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He and his colleagues combined direct measurements from sensors on the whales' bodies, and physics-based models, to calculate the mass that each mammal took in as it moved through the water.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9265000/9265623.stm

[Drale]

1. You know we could fit a whole lot of republicans in one whale

wouldn't that be ironic, all the republicans get eaten by a whale, one of the creatures that they would gladdy wipe out because its "gods will"

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Whales eat Krill, not bullshit. n/t

[applegrove]

3. Who was that lucky duck who got to put the sensors on the whale?

I'd love to see one but alas they are shy creatures.