Ancient texts shed new light on mysterious whale behaviour that 'captured imagination'

An unusual feeding technique only recently observed by scientists was documented nearly 2,000 years ago, a study suggestsFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastMysterious whale feeding behaviour only documented by scientists in the 2010s has been described in ancient texts about sea creatures as early as two millennia ago, new research suggests.In 2011, Bryde's whales in the Gulf of Thailand were first observed at the surface of the water with their jaws open at right angles, waiting for fish to swim into their mouths. Scientists termed the unusual technique, then unknown to modern science, as "tread-water feeding". Around the same time, similar behaviour was spotted in humpback whales off Canada's Vancouver Island, which researchers called "trap-feeding". Continue reading...