While humpback whales ’ diets usually consists of krill, anchovies and the odd sardine, one humpback accidentally got a mouthful of a slightly bigger animal off the coast of California last week.
Photographer Chase Dekker was whale-watching on Monterey Bay when he saw a humpback whale with a sea lion caught in its mouth.
On his Instagram , Mr Dekker wrote: “Just the other day I witnessed something out on Monterey Bay I had never seen before.
“While the humpbacks were lunge feeding on a school of anchovies, a sea lion apparently didn't jump out of the way fast enough and got trapped inside the whales mouth!”
Thankfully, the sea lion managed to get out of the whale’s mouth, and both animals escaped unscathed.
Mr Dekker added: “At some point the sea lion escaped and the whale seemed fine too as it continued to feed, but it must have been a strange experience for both parties!
“That sea lion had the true ‘Jonah Experience’!”
Humpback whales are baleen whales, which means they filter their food through a filter-feeder system.
Because of this filter, humpbacks usually feed on small fish, including krill, anchovies, cod, sardienes, mackerel and capelin.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration added: “Some humpbacks have a very unusual way of catching their food.
“They make nets to catch their prey called ‘bubble nets’ with the air that they release from their blow holes.
“The whales dive deep then swim up in a spiral pattern, all the while releasing a steady stream of bubbles. As the bubbles rise they form a bubble cage which traps the fish or plankton that the whales are pursuing.
“Then the whales swim up through the centre of the bubble cage with their jaws open and capture a great gulp of food.”
