Benthic Prey in a Bowhead Whale from the Northern Bering Sea

Abstract

Stomach contents were examined from a bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus , killed at Gambell, Alaska, on 1 May 1982. It contained an estimated 20-40 litres of recently ingested prey, principally gammarid amphipods (91.7% of the volume of a 157-ml subsample) and cumaceans (7%). All identified prey were primarily epibenthic forms. The stomach of this whale was significant in several respects: it contained the largest amount of food recorded in any whale taken and examined in spring; it provided the first direct evidence of bowheads feeding in the Bering Sea; and the contents indicated that benthic prey are sometimes intentionally fed upon.