Countless Gallons of Whale Pee Are Keeping Our Oceans Alive

It’s a common joke you’ve probably heard before, one of those public domain observations people toss out in conversations to seem clever and original when it’s a thought thousands have every single day. Swimming in the ocean is weird because it’s a fish toilet. But all that sea creature waste plays a vital role in maintaining ocean health.

For instance, according to new research, whale piss helps distribute nutrients across the ocean, helping to maintain ecological balance.

Scientists have been enamored with whale waste in recent years. In the past year, researchers have found that whale poop is so vital to maintaining the health of our oceans that some have started developing artificial whale poop based on the nutrients found in the real thing. They then dump it into the oceans to stimulate phytoplankton growth, which in turn helps reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the water. Whale poop is no different than the fertilizer that makes one person’s front yard prettier than another’s.

According to researcher Andrew Pershing, whale pee serves a similar purpose, and a whale’s migratory patterns play a key role in the distribution of nutrients. It’s called the “whale conveyor belt” and it helps spread around 4,000 tons of nitrogen and 45,000 tons of other biomass like dead skin cells, placentas, and yes, poop too, across the thousands of miles whales travel as they journey toward breeding grounds.

The researchers found that the areas of the ocean where whales dump their various types of waste and gunk end up fertilizing ecosystems that fuel phytoplankton growth, leading to bountiful food reserves for all kinds of fish and sea invertebrates. One researcher explained that whale pee being distributed through whale migration paths is “like collecting leaves to make compost for your garden.”

The researchers note that while a variety of whale species contribute to ocean health with their pee and poo, there’s truly no telling just how vital whales are to ocean ecosystems since the waste produced by the largest animals on earth, blue whales, since their elusiveness makes them logistically challenging to study.

For all we know, blue whales might be single-handedly pooping and peeing enough to save the earth all of their own.