Jubart whales continue to hit things. Are myopic

Jubart whales have an incredibly weak view, which can lead them to beat objects, says a new study.

The kind giants, also known as bibliesthey do not have the ability to distinguish fine details until they are very close, which may explain the tragic tendency of these animals to be arrested on fishing nets e Pack in small boats.

According to, in an effort to better understand the way biblies see the world, a team of marine biologists said the left eye From a whale that had died after being stranded.

In the study, in The Royal Societythe team revealed that the back globe of the whale was much thicker than expected, which means that the distance between the retina and the lens – a Focal Eye distance – It was much shorter than it was supposed.

A shorter focal distance means that the ability of whales to solve fine details, known as acuityit is much smaller than previously thought.

This idea was confirmed when the team told the number of retina ganglion cells – Neurons that transfer visual information to the brain – that the eye had.

While the typical human eye has about 40,000 retinal ganglion cells by square millimeter, the Jubarte’s eye was only 180.

However, Lori Schweikertprofessor at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, said that such a weak view is not usually a Problem for whales.

“In addition to birds of prey, humans and some other groups, most animals have a very low visual acuity,” says Schweikert.

“This visual acuity, however, is often suitable for what they need to survive in their natural environment. In the case of bushes, You may only need to see large silhouetteslike that of a large cardume of prey or another whale to swim. ”

The vision of the allows them See larger objects at a distancebut the thinner details are only focused when they are at a distance of 45 to 60 meters, or three to four whale lengths, which means the whales nThey are able to see the thin strings of a fishing net Until they are even on one.

“Within a distance, whales should be able to identify these structures,” says Schweikert, “but that leaves them little time to move away.”