Those of us keen on wildlife documentaries will have learnt how the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park demonstrated the importance of predators in maintaining a healthy ecosystem on land. In a recent article in Nature, Savoca et al. have re-evaluated the role played in the oceanic ecosystem by baleen whales – whales that feed by filtering seawater though bristle-like combs that fringe their mouths – beginning by calculating how much they consume.
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