References
[1] Roman, J., & McCarthy, J. J. (2010). The Whale Pump: Marine Mammals Enhance Primary Productivity in a Coastal Basin. PLOS ONE, 5(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013255
[2] Savoca, M. S., Czapanskiy, M. F., Kahane-Rapport, S. R., et al. (2021). Baleen whale prey consumption based on high-resolution foraging measurements. Nature, 599, 85–90. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03991-5
[3] Nicol, S., Bowie, A., Jarman, S., Lannuzel, D., Meiners, K. M., & van der Merwe, P. (2010). Southern Ocean iron fertilization by baleen whales and Antarctic krill. Fish and Fisheries, 11(2), 203–209. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2010.00356.x
[4] Pershing, A. J., Christensen, L. B., Record, N. R., Sherwood, G. D., & Stetson, P. B. (2010). The Impact of Whaling on the Ocean Carbon Cycle: Why Bigger Was Better. PLOS ONE, 5(8), e12444. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0012444
[5] Pearson, H. C., Savoca, M. S., Costa, D. P., et al. (2023). Whales in the carbon cycle: can recovery remove carbon dioxide? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 38(3), 238–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.10.012
[6] Meynecke, J. O., de Bie, J., Barraqueta, J.-L. M., et al. (2023). Do whales really increase the oceanic removal of atmospheric carbon? Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, 1117409. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1117409
Baleen Whales
Baleen whales help keep ocean ecosystems functioning by recycling nutrients, supporting marine productivity, moving energy across vast distances, and restoring ecological roles diminished by commercial whaling.
Baleen whales are among the largest animals ever to have lived. Their ecological importance is not only a matter of size, but of movement, feeding and recovery. By consuming large quantities of prey, migrating across entire ocean basins, releasing nutrient-rich waste, and transferring organic matter to the deep sea after death, baleen whales help connect and support different parts of the ocean ecosystem.[1] [2] [3]
One of the clearest mechanisms is nutrient recycling, or what is known as the “whale pump”. Baleen whales feed on krill, copepods and small fish, then release rich faecal plumes full of important nutrients like nitrogen and iron. This waste is often released near the surface, as whales have to return to the surface to breathe, where these nutrients can become available to phytoplankton in the sunlit upper ocean layer.[1] [2] [3]
Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food web and absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.
In the Gulf of Maine, whales (and seals) were estimated to recycle around 2.3 × 10⁴ metric tonnes of nitrogen per year into the phytoplankton zone, exceeding river inputs to that system.[1] In the Southern Ocean, whale faeces have also been shown to contain high concentrations of iron, an important limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth in some regions.[3]
Recent research suggests this role was historically underestimated. Recent research has shown that baleen whales consume far more prey than earlier models suggested, meaning their past influence on nutrient cycling, prey dynamics and marine productivity was likely far greater before commercial whaling sharply reduced large-whale populations. [2] [4]
Whales are part of how healthy oceans work and by taking measures to restore populations decimated by centuries of commercial whaling, their returning numbers can help ocean ecosystems thrive and function as they once did. [5] [6]
Baleen Whales
Baleen whales help keep ocean ecosystems functioning by recycling nutrients, supporting marine productivity, moving energy across vast distances, and restoring ecological roles diminished by commercial whaling.
Baleen whales are among the largest animals ever to have lived. Their ecological importance is not only a matter of size, but of movement, feeding and recovery. By consuming large quantities of prey, migrating across entire ocean basins, releasing nutrient-rich waste, and transferring organic matter to the deep sea after death, baleen whales help connect and support different parts of the ocean ecosystem.[1] [2] [3]
One of the clearest mechanisms is nutrient recycling, or what is known as the “whale pump”. Baleen whales feed on krill, copepods and small fish, then release rich faecal plumes full of important nutrients like nitrogen and iron. This waste is often released near the surface, as whales have to return to the surface to breathe, where these nutrients can become available to phytoplankton in the sunlit upper ocean layer.[1] [2] [3]
Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food web and absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.
In the Gulf of Maine, whales (and seals) were estimated to recycle around 2.3 × 10⁴ metric tonnes of nitrogen per year into the phytoplankton zone, exceeding river inputs to that system.[1] In the Southern Ocean, whale faeces have also been shown to contain high concentrations of iron, an important limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth in some regions.[3]
Recent research suggests this role was historically underestimated. Recent research has shown that baleen whales consume far more prey than earlier models suggested, meaning their past influence on nutrient cycling, prey dynamics and marine productivity was likely far greater before commercial whaling sharply reduced large-whale populations. [2] [4]
Whales are part of how healthy oceans work and by taking measures to restore populations decimated by centuries of commercial whaling, their returning numbers can help ocean ecosystems thrive and function as they once did. [5] [6]