Whales, Ocean Gardeners
Whale waste carries nutrients to the ocean surface and fertilizes phytoplankton, the tiny plants at the base of the ocean food web (NOAA Fisheries).
Image: NASA.
Last reviewed: 1 source cited
Explain Like I'm 10
- Whales eat deep in the ocean and then poop near the top.
- Their poop is like plant food for tiny ocean plants.
- Those plants feed fish and help take carbon out of the air.
The Five W's of Whales, Ocean Gardeners
Who
Great whales, studied by NOAA Fisheries and other scientists.
What
The "whale pump": whales feed deep and release nutrient-rich waste near the surface.
When
Every day; populations are slowly recovering from commercial whaling.
Why
Nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and iron are scarce in sunlit surface water where Tiny plant-like living things that drift in water and use sunlight to make food. They make much of the oxygen we breathe and feed ocean life. Glossary grow.
Impact Statement
Natural solution · active
Whale waste fertilizes phytoplankton, which take in A gas that people and animals breathe out and that burning fuel releases. Plants take it in, and too much of it in the air warms the planet. Glossary as they grow. Whales also store carbon in their huge bodies, and when they die, carcasses can carry it to the deep sea. Scientists are still measuring how large the overall effect is.
Source: NOAA Fisheries, Whales and carbon sequestration
For Further Information: NOAA Fisheries, Whales and carbon sequestration
Whale waste fertilizes tiny ocean plants that make oxygen and feed fish.
How This Saves People & the Planet
For People
Phytoplankton feed the fish that billions of people eat, so healthy whale populations support fisheries.
Source: NOAA Fisheries, Whales and carbon sequestration
For Nature
Protecting whales helps rebuild the ocean food web from the bottom up.
Want to go deeper? NOAA Fisheries has the full story.
For Further InformationRelated Solutions
More solutions like this one, matched by meaning.
For Teachers
Discussion questions
- What is Whales, Ocean Gardeners, and what problem does it help solve?
- Who is behind Whales, Ocean Gardeners, and where does the work happen?
- How does Whales, Ocean Gardeners help both people and nature? Use one fact from this page.
Sources are listed with each fact in the Five W's above.
Cite This Page
APA
Saving Planets. (n.d.). Whales, Ocean Gardeners. https://www.savingplanets.com/Whales_Ocean_Gardeners.html
MLA
"Whales, Ocean Gardeners." Saving Planets, https://www.savingplanets.com/Whales_Ocean_Gardeners.html.