How do baleen whales catch their prey?

How do baleen whales catch their prey?

Baleen whales swim slowly along the ocean bottom with their huge mouths wide open. A tremendous amount of sea water flows through their open mouths, and is forced out through the sides. On each side of a baleen whale’s mouth are strainers that hang like curtains. These strainers are called baleens. The water that is forced out through the sides of the mouth has to pass through these strainers. When this happens, krill and other small fish swimming in the water are caught by the baleens.

The whale wipes the baleen clean with its tongue from time to time. The krill are then pushed by the tongue to the back of the throat, and swallowed. In this manner, a baleen whale can feed on enormous amounts of krill.