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Posts Tagged ‘Physeter Macrocephalus’

Sperm whale or physeter macrocephalus is one of the biggest animals in the sea. Its’ dung may help the oceans absorb carbon dioxide, CO2, scientists stated. Australian research team considered the Southern Ocean whale sperm release 50 tons of iron annually. That waste is to stimulate the growth of tiny sea plants – phytoplankton – which absorb CO2 during photosynthesis.

This process resulted in the absorption of about 40 000 tones of carbon – more than twice the amount released by the whale to breathe, said the research results. The researchers note in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B that the process also produces more food for the whale, estimated to number 12,000. Phytoplankton is the basis of marine food web in this hemisphere, and very small plant growth is limited by the amount of available nutrients, including iron.

During approximately the last decade, many scientists are experimenting with iron poured into the sea deliberately to deal with climate change. Not all the experiments were successful. Largest experiment, the expedition Lohafex Germany, devoting six tons of iron into the Southern Ocean in 2008, but found no increase in release of carbon (carbon uptake) in a sustainable manner.

Despite 40 000 tons of carbon less than 1/1.000 annual emissions from burning fossil fuels, the researchers noted that the sum total of the whole world may be more substantial.

Sperm whale population is estimated at several thousand in all oceans, although the species is known difficult to calculate.

Scarcity of iron is limiting phytoplankton growth in many areas outside the Southern Ocean. Thus the whale dung becomes fertilizer for the plants in several parts of the world. According to this view, sperm whales do not eat and throw dirt at the same place. If that happens on the contrary, they may absorb and produce the same amount of iron.
Sperm whales eat their food, mainly squid, deep sea, and throw dirt in more shallow places where phytoplankton can grow thanks to access to sunlight.

Iron producing here in the end is good for the whale said the researchers – led by Trish Lavery from Flinders University in Adelaide. Phytoplankton are eaten by tiny sea animals – zooplankton – which is then eaten by larger creatures which then may be eaten by a whale. Read the rest of this entry »