The “whale conveyor belt” moves tons of nutrients through the ocean – through urine urine

In 2010, two US researchers demonstrated this The whale cracks redistributes decisive amounts of nitrogen From deep waters to shallow coastal areas. A new study shows that Whale Pee plays a similar role by ferry nutrients horizontally in the oceans.

Researchers have found that whales carry thousands of tons of nutrients in thousands of miles when they migrate from their cold nutrition to more warm mating. Most of this traveling nutrient is in peeing them, but dead skin, carcasses and placenta also contribute to the so-called whale conveyor, as in detail in a exploration Posted on March 10 in Nature Communications.

“Because of their size, whales are able to do things that no other animal does. They live life on a different scale, “Andrew Perushing, co -author of the new study and oceanographer at the non -profit Climate Central organization, says Vermont University statementS “The nutrients come from outside – and not from a river, but from these migrating animals. It’s super cool and changes the way we think about ecosystems in the ocean. We do not think of animals other than humans, affect a planetary scale, but whales really do. “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4xbuorkvk

The whales take the longest migration pathways of each mammal. For example, the humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere travel over 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from Antarctica to Costa Rica, and gray whales travel nearly 7,000 (11,200 km) miles from Russia to Baja California. Extensive whale migration models, including right whales, gray whales and back whales, redistribute about 4,000 tonnes of nitrogen and 45,000 tonnes of biomass to coastal areas with low scissors each year, according to the study.

“These coastal areas often have clear waters, a sign of low nitrogen, and many of them have coral reef ecosystems,” says Joe Roman, a biologist at the University of Vermont, who led the study. “The movement of nitrogen and other nutrients can be important for the growth of phytoplankton or microscopic algae and provide food for sharks and other fish and very invertebrates.”

Warm waters where the whales travel to mate and give birth are usually smaller regions than their extensive nutrition reasons. As a result, their redistribution of nutrients through Pee is “Like a leaf collection to make compost for your garden,” Roman explained when we row leaves through a wide lawn and deposit them into a garden bed. For example, the humpback whales migrating from the vast Alaska Gulf deposit almost twice as many nutrients in the National Sea Sanctuary of the Hawaiian Islands, which are on a national maritime sanctuary than other local physical processes, according to researchers.

“We call it” the great whale conveyor, “Roman added,” or can be thought of as a funnel as the whales are fed in large areas, but they must be in a relatively limited space to find a half, breed and give birth. At first, calves have no energy to walk long distances as mothers can. “

In addition, the study does not take into account nutrients redistributed by blue whales, some of the largest animals that have ever existed, as many aspects of their behavior remain a mystery to scientists. This means that the true amount of nutrients that Whales Ferry around the world are probably much higher than the calculated researchers-not to mention the amounts that would redistribute before the 20th-century whale activities have defined many of their population.

“Many people think about plants for the lungs on the planet, taking carbon dioxide and expel oxygen,” says Roman, “animals in turn play an important role in moving nutrients. Sea birds transport nitrogen and phosphorus from the ocean to the ground in their curtains, increasing the density of plants on the islands. Animals form the circulatory system of the planet – and whales are the ultimate example. “