The latest chapter in carbon-enhanced research funding: Whale poop is vital to ocean’s carbon cycle!
Using estimates of the whale population before commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean began early last century, Nicol predicts that baleen whales – now endangered – once consumed about 190 million tonnes of krill every year and produced 7600 tonnes of iron-rich faeces.
I guess you can polish a turd. Judging by those figures, whales must shit ball bearings.
Flashback – Make Mine Mink
h/t
Ok, using their figures- one tonne of (iron rich) feces (output) for every 25,000 tonnes of krill (input).
Well, I know for sure that doexn’t work at our house!
I’m thinking that if the residents of Victoria each ate two bicycles a year they could easily do 7600 tonnes of iron-rich faeces per year.
Giant sphincter power!!!!!
OOPS I forgot to add the colon 🙂
Does this mean that krill lives forever unless et and sh1t by whales? or that whales can somehow magically turn krill into Fe?
“Nicol’s team analysed 27 samples of faeces from four species of baleen whales. He found that on average whale faeces have 10 million times as much iron as Antarctic seawater…”
…and taste like chicken.
Seriously, though – and I may be missing something here – wouldn’t the whales have ultimately ingested all the iron that’s in their poop from plankton, via krill?
“Whale faeces once provided huge quantities of iron to a now anaemic Southern Ocean…”
But, but….okay, the phytoplankton contain iron, and “krill feed on the phytoplankton, concentrating the iron in their tissue. And in turn, baleen whales eat the krill.” But the phytoplankton aren’t creating iron in their bodies, I assume; they’re either absorbing it from the water or from whatever it is that they eat. And the the Krill aren’t creating iron , they’re absorbing it from the phytoplankton, just as the whales in turn absorb the iron from the krill. So none of them are creating iron, they’re just moving it around.
I know that iron is more concentrated in whale poop than in sea water, and that phyotoplankton swoop in on whale poop for the iron, but since the whales get that iron in their poop from phytoplankton….isn’t there ultimately the same amount of iron in the oceans?
I don’t know. Suppose there were no whales to murder krill: when a krill – let’s call him Henry – shuffles off this mortal coil, as all fish are destined to do, wouldn’t the iron in his body be released into the ocean, albeit in the form of krill paste rather than whale poop?
Full disclosure: I’m not a scientist….
EDB has it….whales do not creat iron….they just recycle it. The same amount of iron is still there…..with or without whales….
This “study” is typical enviro sophistry.
EBD, not sure, but I think I pre-agreed with you at 1:22.
Full disclosure: I can’t type.
Still shilling their fantasy I see. You would have figured by know. Even Marxists would figure out that One volcano blowing, just destroyed their models for a century.
JMO
You did agree with me, infinity squared. Or I with you. Or…
Point is, while I was diligently typing out all that typing I did, I hadn’t seen your comment. And you couldn’t have had precognition of mine…I hope.
Hey, what can I say? Grade nines think alike.
That’s an amazingly efficient metabolism the whales have as 190 million tons of krill becomes 189,992,400 tons of whale minus the amount of krill that get converted to CO2, H2O and urea. Lets say that 50% of the krill are metabolized which gives us about 85 million tons of whale. OTOH, this might just be the result of an innumerate proof-reader completely ignorant of the disconnect between the two numbers. Perhaps they hired the guy on from CRU.
If whales ate 190 million tons of food and shat 7600 tons the southern ocean would be unsafe because of the exploding whales.
When are these so called scientists going to join the real world.
If they meant 7600 tons of iron no problem with whales exploding and one bulk carrier of powdered in ore from the pilbara with a spreading mechanism would solve the problem of anemia. If I ask for a grant to fix this problem mentioning global warming is 800 million too much?
If whales ate 190 million tons of food and shat 7600 tons the southern ocean would be unsafe because of the exploding whales.
When are these so called scientists going to join the real world.
If they meant 7600 tons of iron no problem with whales exploding and one bulk carrier of powdered in ore from the pilbara with a spreading mechanism would solve the problem of anemia. If I ask for a grant to fix this problem mentioning global warming is 800 million too much?
Cold again: MSM The Beached Whale and its ““left coast Suzuki-PR-industrial complex” on global warming,”.
All “designed to destroy his [Weaver’s] reputation internationally.”
AL Gore’s Weather (AGW) suggestion:
“Shower together to save water
Edmonton Sun – Tanya Enberg”
…-
“Media lawyers not warm on climate scientist’s lawsuit
Case could force newspapers to police bloggers, social networkers
Media law experts say a libel lawsuit filed by a leading Canadian climate scientist could have enormous implications for newspapers and other online publishers, forcing them to police the Internet for stories picked up by everyone from bloggers to Twitterers.
The concerns arise out of a statement of claim filed by Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria professor and Canada Research Chair in climate modelling, over a series of articles published in the National Post between Dec. 9, 2009, and Feb. 2 of this year.
Weaver alleges the pieces, including a column which accused him of joining the “left coast Suzuki-PR-industrial complex” on global warming, were designed to destroy his reputation internationally.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/800162–media-lawyers-not-warm-on-climate-scientist-s-lawsuit
Math question from Al Gore and David Suzuki’s 1995 book release: “Indoctrination for Little Greenies”
In 2010, when all the great whales have been killed off, how much people-shit will have to be dumped in the oceans to feed the krill?
Maybe I missed a turn here.
Whales shit iron, ok, but whales are just concentrating krill who presumably injest an concentrate ….from things in the ocean. Large currents move water arounf the world at remarkable rates.
EVEN IF there were no whales, the krill would still be there, living and dieing, and I PRESUME, Mother Gaia not being the wasteful type, that something will appear and reproduce wildly to consume that krill ..and concentrate it.
But I’m just an engineer, I suspect though that someone is looking at a micro system and not the macro system here.
7600 tonnes of iron-rich faeces? … why can’t they use numbers we can all understand? … how many sh1t covered football fields is that?
So when California sinks into the ocean all those cars will be long term nutrient? Win-win. It’s on the migration route.
Hey, if we crap in the ocean, it’s pollution, and that’s bad. But if a whale does it…it’s good?
Whasamadder, do whales think their shite don’t stink?
No wonder their so uppity all the time…
BathEveryDay…Hey..that’s great. Conan, move over.