Baleen

As Barten is called by the upper jaw of a baleen instead of teeth hanging horn plates. With the help of the most finely feathered baleen sieve ( filter ) whales plankton such as krill from seawater. The whale takes to a large amount of water, which is facilitated by an extremely extensible throat pouch in the furrows whales. Then he closes his jaw and pushes the water with his tongue through the baleen plates to the outside. The small animals in the water are retained by the baleen as through a filter and can be easily swallowed by the whale.

Beards were " whalebone " is used among other things as a shaper corset for under the name until the early 20th century.

• Gallery

Barten of the Blue Whale

Filtering mechanism of the baleen whales; Cross section through the jaw perpendicular to the longitudinal body axis

Barten of the gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus )

Barten of the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus ) in the Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund