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"That’s because the more whales eat, the more they poop, releasing nutrients like iron into the ocean water to fertilize the growth of phytoplankton, which in t
by ars 5y ago
"That’s because the more whales eat, the more they poop, releasing nutrients like iron into the ocean water to fertilize the growth of phytoplankton, which in turn serve as a primary food source in the marine food web."
Um, the whales are not creating iron. They are eating it and putting (some of) it back where it came from. This articles makes it seem like the more they eat the more iron is there.
A dead krill will release the exact same nutrients into the ocean - it's not necessary for it to be processed by a whale first.
"you might think that these hungry giants could make life in the sea scarcer. In fact, scientists theorize, just the opposite may be true."
This theory is not supported by the explanation given. I see no difference between krill eaten by a whale, and krill dying of old age - both will fertilize phytoplankton.
- a9h74j 5y agoI have seen the argument (in Derrick Jensen) that whales migrate vertically, so the iron they distribute is somewhere else than originally, placing whales (if so) as a key factor in an iron circulation system.
- chernevik 5y agoWell, digestive processes in the whale could speed the cycle, yes? But I take your point.
- mellavora 5y agoIn biology, things aren't always that clean. Does whale poo release the iron in a way which is more accessible to other life forms vs dead krill? Perhaps one of these floats better than the other, or diffuses more evenly, or through some other mechanism makes it easier for the phytoplankton to access the iron. The shameful thing is that we have learned how to commercially harvest krill and sell it as animal feed. Which means we are strip-mining this resource also from the ocean. Which before too long will lead to starving the whales to death, followed by the collapse of the krill populations because we just take, we don't give back. 'animal feed' includes pet food.