Feces of sperm whales 'help' the oceans to absorb atmospheric CO2

Australian scientists have discovered that the faeces of whales 'help' the oceans to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, because they are released about 50 tons of iron annually.

The work, published in the journal Proceedings B 'of the British Royal Society, explains that in this way stimulates the growth of small marine plants known as' phytoplankton', whose mission is to absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.

This is obtained by the absorption of 400,000 tons of carbon, more than double what the whales 'manufactured' for their breath. Researchers have also seen that, with this stimulation, the plants produce more food for the whale, about 12,000 tons.

As the BBC explains, the phytoplankton is part of the base of the food chain of marine animals and the growth of these small plants is limited by the amount of available nutrients, including iron.
Fertilize plants

Recently, scientific groups have made some tests to try to alleviate the effects of climate change by injections of iron in the ocean, but not all the experiments have proved successful. For example, in 2008 a German expedition inserted tons of iron in the Southern Ocean without success.

The total numbers of sperm in the world is hard to tell, although it is known that in the same way they do in the Southern Ocean, fertilize the plants and the process is repeated in different parts of the world.

These animals feed mainly on squid in the deep sea and defecate in the surface waters where phytoplankton grows, the access of sunlight finally the scientists suggest that this mechanism could also be repeated with the "krill."