Editing Herring (section)

===Predators===
{{See also|Predator avoidance in schooling fish|Bait ball}}
[[File:Goéland argenté - Julien Salmon.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|Seabirds, like this [[European herring gull]], attack herring schools from above.}}]]
[[File:Humpback whale lunging through a herring school.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|Humpback whales attack herring schools by [[Lunge feeding|lunging]] from below.}}]]

[[Predator]]s of herring include [[seabirds]], marine mammals such as [[dolphins]], [[porpoises]], [[whales]], [[earless seal|seal]]s, and [[sea lion]]s, predatory fish such as [[sharks]], [[billfish]], [[tuna]], [[salmon]], [[striped bass]], [[cod]], and [[halibut]]. [[Fishermen]] also catch and eat herring.

The predators often cooperate in groups, using different techniques to panic or herd a school of herring into a tight [[bait ball]]. Different predatory species then use different techniques to pick the fish off in the bait ball. The [[sailfish]] raises its sail to make it appear much larger. [[Swordfish]] charge at high speed through the bait balls, slashing with their swords to kill or stun prey. They then turn and return to consume their "catch". [[Thresher shark]]s use their long tails to stun the shoaling fish. These sharks compact their prey school by swimming around them and splashing the water with their tails, often in pairs or small groups. They then strike them sharply with the upper lobe of their tails to stun them.<ref name="seitz">Seitz, J.C. [http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/PelagicThresher/PelagicThresher.html Pelagic Thresher] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524184335/http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/PelagicThresher/PelagicThresher.html |date=2011-05-24 }}. ''Florida Museum of Natural History.'' Retrieved on December 22, 2008.</ref> [[Spinner shark]]s charge vertically through the school, spinning on their axes with their mouths open and snapping all around. The sharks' momentum at the end of these spiraling runs often carries them into the air.<ref name="compagno">{{cite book |author=Compagno, L.J.V. |year=1984 |title=Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date |place=Rome |publisher=Food and Agricultural Organisation |isbn=978-92-5-101384-7 |pages=466–468}}</ref><ref name="marinebio">{{cite web|url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=492|title=''Carcharhinus brevipinna'', Spinner Shark|publisher=MarineBio.org|access-date=May 9, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121220211227/http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=492|archive-date=December 20, 2012}}</ref>

Some whales [[lunge feed]] on bait balls.<ref>Reeves RR, Stewart BS, Clapham PJ and Powell J A (2002) [https://books.google.com/books?id=5CYXAQAAIAAJ&q=%22National+Audubon+Society+Guide+to+Marine+Mammals+of+the+World%22 ''National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529103634/https://books.google.com/books?id=5CYXAQAAIAAJ&q=%22National+Audubon+Society+Guide+to+Marine+Mammals+of+the+World%22&dq=%22National+Audubon+Society+Guide+to+Marine+Mammals+of+the+World%22&hl=en&ei=KA-UTbnGIoO4vQOhnJyJDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA |date=2016-05-29 }} Chanticleer Press. {{ISBN|9780375411410}}.</ref> Lunge feeding is an extreme feeding method, where the whale accelerates from below the bait ball to a high velocity and then opens its mouth to a large gape angle. This generates the water pressure required to expand its mouth and engulf and filter a huge amount of water and fish. Lunge feeding by [[rorqual]]s, a family of huge [[Baleen whale|baleen whales]] that includes the [[blue whale]], is said to be the largest [[Biomechanics|biomechanical]] event on Earth.<ref>Potvin J and Goldbogen JA (2009) [http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/6/40/1005.full "Passive versus active engulfment: verdict from trajectory simulations of lunge-feeding fin whales ''Balaenoptera physalus''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222100831/http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/6/40/1005.full |date=2015-12-22 }} ''J. R. Soc. Interface'', '''6'''(40): 1005–1025. {{doi|10.1098/rsif.2008.0492}}</ref>

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 | caption1  = Sailfish herd herring schools with their sails
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 | caption2  = Swordfish slash at herrings with their swords
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 | caption4  = Spinner shark spin on their axis, snapping herrings as they go
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{{External media
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|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJvfjiCTvq4 Humpback Whale: Hunting Technique] – ''YouTube''
|video2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quwebVjAEJA Bait Ball Feast] – ''[[Nature's Great Events]]''
}}
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