Whale Farts -- Passing Sea Biscuits

The other day I was in the midst of a vy. serious discussion with some friends which led us to wonder -- do whales pass gas? I figured, as mammals with homologous digestive systems, they had to. But it turns out that there was great debate over the subject until a few years ago, when an intrepid mariner snapped the following:



The red stream is the "fecal plume" of the Antarctic Minke whale -- and the large halo, the bursting bubble produced by its water-born fumes. As mature Minke whales grow to 4-5 tons, that must have been quite a hunk of cheese.