If a yellowfin tuna encounters a dense bait ball, what becomes its primary energy source?
Answer
The schooling fish comprising the bait ball
Yellowfin tuna employ an active, opportunistic feeding strategy, highly tuned to finding dense concentrations of prey. When they locate a bait ball—a tight aggregation of smaller, schooling fish like anchovies or sardines—this school represents an immediate, high-density energy opportunity. Exploiting this concentration of fish allows the tuna to acquire substantial calories efficiently before the school disperses. While squid and crustaceans are important, a dense bait ball makes schooling fish the immediate and primary source of sustenance.
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