Australia’s study shows whale excrement helps planet

Sperm whale excrement helps remove carbon from the atmosphere, an Australia’s study showed recently.

Southern Ocean sperm whales offset their carbon emissions by defecating iron on phytoplankton, Flinders University of South Australia research has found.

The study by PhD student Trish Lavery showed that rather than increasing atmospheric carbon levels through respiration, Southern Ocean sperm whales offset their carbon emissions by defecating on the phytoplankton.

“Sperm whale poo is rich in iron, which stimulates phytoplankton to grow and trap carbon,” Lavery said in a statement.

“When the phytoplankton die, the trapped carbon sinks to the deep ocean.

“By this process, sperm whales in the Southern Ocean remove approximately 400,000 tonnes of carbon from our atmosphere each year - more than double the amount of carbon they add by breathing out carbon dioxide,” she said.

Her statement said that whaling may have resulted in an extra two million tonnes of carbon remaining in the atmosphere annually.

Lavery said that by fertilizing phytoplankton, sperm whales were also increasing primary productivity in the ocean which may help to enhance fish stocks.

“It makes a compelling case for an immediate ban on whaling,” she said.

The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal.

Xinhua