Scientists at Oregon State University have been using drones to film the majestic animals in their natural habitat.
Leigh Torres, explained: “This is something we often see from the boat, but with the drone we were able to get this remarkable new perspective.
“It’s an amazing sequence of events.”
Blue whale mouths are huge – they can swallow a volume of water larger than themselves and it is believed 400 humans could fit inside them.
The tongue is roughly the size of an elephant and their throat stretches down to their navel.
But despite the ocean giant’s size, it gets its energy from eating some of the smallest creatures on the planet – krill.
In the incredible footage, the whale is seen swimming towards a massive group of krill.
It notices the mass of fish then turn on their side.
Pumping its body towards its prey, the whale lunges at the krill patch with its gigantic mouth open, swallowing the entire school of fish in one go.
Leigh explained that because of its size, every time the whale opens its monster jaws it takes a huge amount of energy.
The drone video captured the whale picking and choosing what it stopped and ate.
“We know that these animals have huge energetic demands because they are so big,” she said.
“So it takes a lot of energy and every time a blue whale opens its mouth it's like putting on the breaks.
“It slows way down so these animals have to make decisions about what's worth opening their mouth for.”
The fussy eaters have gained more than 399,000 views on YouTube in just a few days.
“Absolutely stunning,” one viewer wrote.
“I had no idea krill congregates in this manner, such that it is visible from a drone. And it makes a lot of sense about energy v reward.”
Another commented: “Amazing footage, nature is so awesome.”
