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Baleen — The Filter Feeders
Baleen whales have NO teeth! Instead, they have hundreds of thin, flexible plates made of keratin (like your fingernails) hanging from their upper jaw. These plates are called BALEEN. Baleen works like a giant filter — the whale gulps an enormous mouthful of water full of tiny krill or small fish, then pushes the water out through the baleen with its tongue. The food gets trapped inside, and the whale swallows it. A blue whale can eat 4 TONS of krill per day — that is about 40 million tiny shrimp!