Video shows humpback whales devising genius method of trapping their prey

There's no doubt that whales are among one of the most intelligent animals on the planet, and researchers, zoologists, and marine biologists are still regularly impressed by the cognitive feats of these aquatic mammals.

If you want proof of just how clever your average whale is, then look no further than the following footage, which has gone viral on social media this week, showing a pod of humpback whales devising a genius method of trapping their prey.

Check out the amazing aerial footage of the humpback whales right here:

The video in question was filmed by scientists from the University of Hawaii, in association with the Marine Mammal Research Program and the Alaska Whale Foundation.

The footage, which was filmed from above using a drone fitted with a camera, shows the animals engaging in a feeding technique known as ''bubble-net fishing"; of the coast of Southeast Alaska.

In the video, the whales can be seen rounding up fish and krill inside a circle of bubbles blown from their blowholes. When the whales ascend to the surface to breach, the fish become trapped in a net of bubbles, which the whales can then eat from.

Watch this video of a whale breaching next to a tourist boat: 

Commenting on his incredible footage (per The Daily Mail) Marine biologist Lars Bejder stated: "The footage is rather groundbreaking. We're observing how these animals are manipulating their prey and preparing the prey for capture. So it is allowing us to gain new insights that [we] really haven't been able to do before."

Check out this clip of a humpback whale surprising a paddler: 

He added: "We have two angles, and the drone’s perspective is showing us these bubble nets and how the bubbles are starting to come to the surface and how the animals come up through the bubble net as they surface. The cameras on the whales are telling us this from the animal’s perspective, so overlaying these two data sets is quite exciting."

This isn't the first time we've written about these magnificent creatures. Check out this article we penned about the Chinese marine park which was strongly criticised after a video emerged of a trainer putting lipstick on a beluga whale.