Can you eat like a Baleen? We can!

We learned on Tuesday that there are two types of whales; toothed and baleen whales.  We understand what it is like to have teeth, but what would it be like to have baleen?  How would we eat our food? Today, we learned just that!

When a Baleen Whale eats, it will open it's mouth, swims forward, and scoops up water and krill.  Then, it will use it's tongue to push out the water.  The water will slip through the baleen, but the krill will not slip through.  Baleen is like hair, but much thicker like our finger nails.

To start off our experiment, we filled a small container with water.  Then, we sprinkled in dried Basil flakes.  We each took a turn moving a comb forward through the water.  The water passed through the comb, but the basil was caught. This is just like what happens to the krill when a baleen whale eats.  

We did another experiment to see what it was like to eat like a baleen whale.  First, we put some raisins in a cup. Then, we filled the cup with a small amount of water.  We put ALL the water and raisins in our mouth...at the same time!  Lastly, we used our tongue to push the water out through our teeth back into the cup, but keeping the raisins in our mouth.  

This was a little trickier than what we thought.  Some of us were able to eat like a baleen whale.  The rest of us have a new appreciation for our teeth.

Some Baleen Whales are:

Blue Whale

Gray Whale

Humpback Whale