We are going to help the Ocean and the World by Learning and Mimicking what Whales do Naturally
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Locking away carbon in the deep sea is essential to restore the climate.
Ocean life helps by bringing carbon captured from the atmosphere to the deep sea;
this is known as the biological carbon pump (BCP).
Ways whales and their food chain boost the BCP:
1) When whales die from natural causes, they sink and bring carbon locked in their
body to the deep sea. Before industrial whaling, Southern Ocean whale
populations would sequester 400,000 tonnes of carbon per year this way.
2) Whale poop can fertilize phytoplankton, and some of this phytoplankton dies,
sinks, and takes that carbon with it.
3) Much of the phytoplankton that doesn’t sink becomes food for zooplankton
grazers, like krill. Krill help sequester huge amounts of carbon via their sinking
molts and fecal pellets.
Through these pathways, whales act as ecosystem engineers and allies in the fight
against climate change. In short, more whales = healthier oceans.
Sadly mostly during the industrial era more than 85% of the whales were slaughtered for human development, altering the Whale Pump and directly reducing the traction of the Biological Carbon Pump. We are going to Restore It!
Our research will advance understanding of the Whale Pump and what may be safe and responsible ways to revitalize it to drive primary productivity such as more krill stocks. When successful, we expect to realize benefits such as more fish for a growing human population, ocean deacidification and diversification of life in the sea.
