How do Baleen whales grow so big on a plankton diet?

Many people have a tendency to intuitively think that predator-prey relationships look like this: Where the smallest animals are eaten by incrementally larger animals. read more

Also, many baleen whales eat organisms that are larger than plankton. Blue whales eat krill while humpbacks, fins and sei whales eat herring and even mackerel. It’s purely a matter of volume of nutrients. Size doesn’t matter, any more than it would matter to us eating a potato versus a bowl of rice. read more

These prey items are abundant in colder waters, and the baleen's large size allows it to take advantage of the abundant prey and store the energy. The larger baleen whales eat approximately 4 percent of their body weight each day [source: SeaWorld]. Each type of baleen whale has a specific prey and a particular method of obtaining it. read more