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Body Length, Filter Time, and Lunges per Dive for Four Whale SpeciesWhale species Typical adult body length (meters) Average time to filter all engulfed water (seconds) Average number of lunges per dive deeper than 50 meters fin 18–22 31.30 3.95 humpback 11–17 17.12 6.28 minke 7–10 8.88 7.48 blue 24–34 60.27 4.02
Some whale species practice lunge feeding, in which they lunge toward prey with their mouths open at wide angles, collect the prey and the surrounding water, and then filter out the water through baleen plates in their mouths. Although the volume of water engulfed increases with whales’ body length, the surface area of whales’ baleen plates, which influences the rate at which water can be filtered, does not increase with body length to the same degree, which helps explain why ______blank
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?