Oceanic compost!
Whales often feed at depth but return to surface waters to defecate. Their faecal plumes fertilises the surface waters and help plankton thrive. Caption: The Guardian. Photograph: Reinhard Dirscherl/Getty Images
We’ve posted about ambergris before, but this article by The Guardian‘s George Monbiot covers a completely different type of significance when it comes to cetaceans’ excrement. Here’s more from Monbiot:
I can hear you muttering already: he’s completely lost it this time. He’s written a 2,000-word article on whale poo. I admit that at first it might be hard to see the relevance to your life. But I hope that by the time you have finished this article you will have become as obsessed with marine faecal plumes as I am. What greater incentive could there be to read on?
In truth it’s not just about whale poo, though that’s an important component. It’s about the remarkable connectivity, on…
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