Whales, the forgotten giants of climate change fight

An unexpected impact of whales on the global climate balance has been revealed by a University of Washington study.

Their excrement contains up to 10 million times more iron than ocean water, fertilizing phytoplankton, which produce more than 50% of the planet's oxygen and capture enormous amounts of CO₂.

In addition, these marine giants function as natural carbon sinks: each whale can store up to 33 tons of CO₂ in its body. When they die, their “fall” to the seabed seals this carbon for centuries, preventing its return to the atmosphere.

However, massive hunting reduced their populations by more than 85%, disrupting ocean fertilization and weakening the planet's capacity to absorb CO₂. Restoring their numbers could capture as much carbon as a 110,000-hectare forest, according to scientific estimates.

Protect whales is a crucial strategy to combat climate change and restore the balance of the oceans.