Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

A spa session for humpback whales

The gigantic animals have worked out an unusual way to exfoliate — a perfect way to deal with whale lice.
Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, and snorkelers, Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, South Pacific, MR 497.

Humpback whales fill their ribbed oral pouches with water to feed — and sometimes, scientists report, to rub off parasites. Credit: Doug Perrine/Alamy

Humpback whales typically feed by filling their large, pleated oral pouch with ocean water, then expelling the water through built-in filters called baleen, which retains krill and fish. Scientists now reveal that humpbacks have adapted their characteristic feeding style to cope with a vexing problem: skin parasites1.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 628, 693 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01072-x

References

  1. Steveson, A. & Werth, A. J. Mar. Mamm. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13127 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links