Sperm whale faeces 'offset CO2 emissions' (Can whale replace cow meat at the dinner table?)

BBC ^ | 6/15/10 | Richard Black

[Libloather]

Sperm whale faeces 'offset CO2 emissions'
Page last updated at 21:33 GMT, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 22:33 UK
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News

Sperm whales may put a gentle (and unwitting) brake on climate change Sperm whale faeces may help oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the air, scientists say.

Australian researchers calculate that Southern Ocean sperm whales release about 50 tonnes of iron every year.

This stimulates the growth of tiny marine plants - phytoplankton - which absorb CO2 during photosynthesis.

The process results in the absorption of about 40,000 tonnes of carbon - more than twice as much as the whales release by breathing, the study says.

The researchers note in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B that the process also provides more food for the whales, estimated to number about 12,000.

Phytoplankton are the basis of the marine food web in this part of the world, and the growth of these tiny plants is limited by the amount of nutrients available, including iron.

Faecal attraction

Over the last decade or so, many groups of scientists have experimented with putting iron into the oceans deliberately as a "fix" for climate change.

[Libloather]

End cow methane now - grow and harvest sperm whales.

(I hear they taste kinda like spotted owl.)

[beethovenfan]

There’s a whole lot of feces in this whole subject (GoreBull warming).

[ClearCase_guy]

They need to give this stuff a rest. It was a hoax. It was fraud. CO2 isn't a problem. Global Warming isn't happening. Changes in climate come from the Sun. No living creature on earth can influence the Sun.

Al Gore probably invented Global Warming just so he would have an excuse to leave the house and travel around, cheating on his wife.

[43north]

Earth to the BBC - there is no global warming.

[rockinqsranch]

Reads to me like a roundabout attack on the Whaling Industry by Greenpeace again.

[mamelukesabre]

I think this is a study to create public support for whale hunting bans.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

It gives “Save the whales!” a whole new meaning.

[RichInOC]

There’s something down there…and it’s farting.

[Army Air Corps]

Save the planet, poop in the ocean.

[arthurus]

(Can whale replace cow meat at the dinner table?)

Only if we can farm them as prolifically as we farm cows. Maybe we can do dairy farms, too.

[Army Air Corps]

Ping.

[driftdiver]

“(I hear they taste kinda like spotted owl.)”

More like sauteed condor with a snail darter sauce.

[BitWielder1]

It's been known for at least 25 years that I know of, that adding
iron-rich nutrients to the ocean makes algae grow like crazy.
It produces oxygen and in doing so consumes CO2.
Before anyone gets too excited over the new miracle cure for the worlds
ills, ask yourself where the ingredients in the whale poop are coming from.

[Mr_Moonlight]

Australian researchers calculate that Southern Ocean sperm whales release about 50 tonnes of iron every year

Yeah, OK that's all well and good, but won't all that extra Iron in the ocean change the overall orientation of the Earth's magnetic field, and what will happen when it does?

Damn, the entire globe is gonna go flipside and flop about in a wild spin. Why can't these Global Warming™ alarmists just stick to what they know best, which is:

do I really need to put a /sarc tag on here?

[Merlinator]

So does that mean when we say someone is lower than whale $hit that it’s a good thing?

[steelyourfaith]

Thanx AAC !

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

The Competitive Enterprise Institute will bestow the Julian Simon Award on Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick for their efforts in debunking Mann's hockey stick at CEI's 2010 Dinner, June 17 at Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill 400 New Jersey Ave. NW Washington, DC 20001.

M&M will also be presenting A Congressional Staff and Media Briefing "ClimateGate, The Context and the Cover-up" 6/17/10 Noon to 1:30 PM ; 406, Dirksen Senate Building, Lunch provided

[LibFreeOrDie]

There’s something down there…and it’s farting.

[Bean Counter]

So we need to come up with a Whale Fart Unit (WFU)...

[Squantos]

Nuke the gay whales for Islam !

[Bean Counter]

So we need to come up with a Whale Fart Unit (WFU)...