Humpbacks near Australia and in the Antartic also feed on euphausiids. Once all of the food is present in the mouth, the mouth is then closed and the water is pressed out. Meanwhile, the food is caught in the baleen plates and is then swallowed. Humpbacks have an elaborate feeding behavior in which they lie on the ocean's surface and swim in a circle. Then, they dive under the ring and resurface in the center with their mouth open to obtain their prey.
Humpbacks also practice a behavior referred to as lunging.
They feed by swimming vertically or obliquely up through aggregations of plankton or fish. This occurs only when their food is abundant. Some humpbacks practice a feeding behavior called bubble behavior, wherein underwater exhalation creates bubble clouds and bubble columns. This large inter-connected mass of bubbles, is formed by one underwater exhalation which concentrates or herds a mass of prey. Feeding is presumed to occur underwater.