01-08-2025
How whale poop is helping save the world
It is common knowledge that whales are the largest animals on the planet. Among these, the Blue Whale tops the list. The adults are about 30m and weigh around 200 tonnes. Imagine how much food they will need! Their food comprises very tiny crustaceans called krill. It is a paradox: the largest animals depending on the tiniest prey. The manner in which they feed is intriguing. They swim to the depths of the ocean and gulp huge quantities of water. This is filtered out through the many plates (baleen) in their cavernous mouth and the krill is left inside. The Blue Whale, Grey Whale and Hump-backed Whale are among the Baleen Whales. Other whales such as the Killer Whales or orcas hunt seals, sea birds and fish and have different hunting tools: their large conical teeth.
Naturally, like all other vertebrates, whales too need to poop. After satisfying their hunger in the deep waters, they swim to the surface and excrete. What a lot of poop that would be in proportion to their size. But whales are always on the move, migrating across miles of ocean. Thus, their nutrient-rich poo — containing nitrogen, phosphates and other minerals — also gets distributed over vast distances, fertilizing the ocean and boosting the growth of phytoplankton, the microscopic plants that float on the water.
Why they're important
The inconspicuous phytoplankton are the heroes of the ocean. They absorb immense quantities of carbon dioxide and release oxygen. It is believed that more than half of our atmosphere's oxygen comes from phytoplankton. Thus, they not only provide pure air for life in the ocean but also on land. Whether you live next to the coast or in the remote interior, out of every five breaths you take, three breaths you owe to the ocean. Beyond this, the phytoplankton sequester humongous amounts of carbon dioxide and enable the ocean to serve as a carbon sink.
Carbon dioxide is the major greenhouse gas, which prevents the sun's heat from escaping away from the Earth. In the last few years, human activities have been spewing unimaginable quantities of this gas into the atmosphere. The phytoplankton, along with plants on land, need to thrive in order to carry on their role of absorbing carbon dioxide.
If it weren't for whale poop, phytoplankton would not thrive as much and there would be far more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than at present. Just imagine, how much hotter summers would be. Thus, the all-important whale poop is actually saving the world by allaying climate change.
