User:Snowbi wan/Whale poo

Australian scientists have discovered that the faeces of a male whale is not only helping ocean plant life to flourish, but also increasing the ocean's ability to absorb CO2.

Because whales' diets are made up largely of iron-rich krill (small crustaceans), their droppings are a great fertilizer for marine plants, helping them to grow like weeds (or algae). These plants then do their part by absorbing CO2 as they grow, a process that scientists have tried to amp up (unsuccessfully) in Antarctic waters with iron fertilization.

Researchers say one-third of the world's oceans are low in iron. On the other hand, male whale excrement contains a very high concentration of the mineral -- about 10 million times the concentration in Antarctic seawater.

This discovery of this contribution is of course much more substantial than that of the female whale. Scientists research into the whales digestive system lead them to discover that female whales do not produce faeces, instead excess food is through a process of internal osmosis, transferred into a fragrant blue vapour, which is then released into the ocean. Although the vapour does not instigate any elemental changes or introduce beneficial minerals, scientist still seek to preserve the contribution as the strong pigment in the vapour makes the ocean appear blue.