Baleen this issue. A whale's baleen plates play the most important role in its filter-feeding process. To feed, a baleen whale opens its mouth widely and scoops in dense shoals of prey (such as krill, copepods, small fish, and sometimes birds that happen to be near the shoals), together with large volumes of water. It then partly shuts its mouth and presses its tongue against its upper jaw, forcing the water to pass out sideways through the baleen, thus sieving out the prey, which it then swallows. People formerly used baleen (usually referred to as "whalebone") for making numerous items where
Baleen flexibility and strength were required, including backscratchers, collar stiffeners, buggy whips, parasol ribs, crinoline petticoats, and corset stays. It was commonly used to crease paper; its flexibility kept it from damaging the paper. It was also occasionally used in cable-backed bows. Synthetic materials are now usually used for similar purposes, especially plastic and fiberglass. Baleen serves as a habitat for some species from the gastropod families Pyropeltidae, Cocculinidae, Osteopeltidae, and Neolepetopsidae. Baleen Baleen is a filter-feeder system inside the mouths of baleen whales. The baleen system works by a whale opening its mouth underwater and taking in water. The whale