Bowhead whales have a previously undiscovered ability to smell the air. The finding could change our understanding of how baleen whales locate prey, as scientists suspect the bowhead whales sniff out krill swarms.

The whales' sense of smell was revealed when scientists dissected their bodies and found olfactory hardware linking the brain and nose, and functional protein receptors required to smell.

Previously, whales and dolphins were thought to lack the ability.

Details are published in the journal Marine Mammal Science.

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