Radio Australia Today Editorial
Whales to save the world. Sorry about that, Japan.
16 June 2010
The new saviour of the planet in its fight against climate change is the Sperm whale. Actually, it’s the Sperm whale’s poo.
The poo is apparently rich in iron, and can stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, which is an organism that can trap atmospheric carbon. Sperm whales, or rather their poo, in the Southern Ocean can lead to the removal of approximately 400,000 tonnes of carbon from our atmosphere each year. In other words the stuff that belches from our motor cars, power plants and factories is being sucked up by ocean sludge.
The discovery was made by Flinders University PhD student Trish Lavery who says that whales are inadvertedly doing us all an extreme service here, because they are transferring iron from the ocean floor by eating deep, and then leaving it near the surface by poo’ing shallow, and thus helping out the little phytoplankton.
The hard working Sperm whales could be helping even more if it wasn’t for the fact that they are nearly fished out. Trish Lavery she told me that the number of Sperm whales is only between one and ten percent of their previous levels. She says that if the whales numbers were not reduced, they would be removing 4 million tonnes of emissions.
The question I have is why didn’t Japan’s Centre for Cetacean Research pick this one up? This is the scientific centre that Japan cites in justification for its whaling program. I have interviewed the centre quite a few times about their attempts to save whales by killing them. They are obviously unrepentant, and say they need to have the bodies of the whales so they can look at their insides in order to assess how they breed.
The whole poo thing must’ve passed them by.
Of course, the Japanese are not targetting Sperm whales, but the International Whaling Commission is looking at opening up the trade in whales, and this could include Sperm whales.
Trish Lavery is a scientist, not an activist, but she did admit that she hopes that her research might have some effect on the Commission’s decision.
Who knows, maybe poo will be the saving of the whales. And the planet.
John
"...Another stupid claim based on the completely unproven notion that carbon dioxide has caused signifcant climate change. Only the gullible would believe this nonsense. Also, "save the planet"? What? I reckon the planet will still be here long after we're dead...."
Billy Bob Hall
"...This is the sort of article that re-convinces me that the ABC should be disbanded forthwith, (Don't fret, the CSIRO fits into this category too) as it no longer serves any useful purpose for the public good...."
Jan1st
"...Thanks Phil for bringing this to our attention, very useful with the IWC meeting coming soon. Hope the government picks it up...."
ObjectiveObserver
"...By that same reasoning cattle are beneficial to the environment because their manure causes more vegetation to grow. I get that it is a new discovery but the only reason anyone on the ABC website is interested is because of the flimsy link to climate change. And the ABC loves whales too......"
SJ
"...ObjectiveObserver, you could never say raising cattle was beneficial for the environment. You do not need to look very far to read about the negative impact livestock production has on climate change...."
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