A ‘trapdoor’ made of muscle and fat helps fin whales eat without choking
The plug may explain how all lunge-feeding whales keep water out of their lungs and gut
![aerial photo of a fin whale breaching the ocean surface with its mouth open](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/011922_so_baleen-whales_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
A fin whale lunges, with mouth open and throat pouch distended, as it gulps prey-filled water in the southern Sea of Cortez. Researchers now know how they eat without choking on all that water.
Nature Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo