Whales’ dung is the real reason we need to stop hunting them

A valuable contribution

Reinhard Dirscher/WaterFrame/Getty

Sometimes it’s pink, sometimes greeny-brown. But whatever the colour, whale dung could be the unlikely catalyst for ending whaling.

The role of whale faeces in regenerating fish stocks will occupy centre-stage this week and next at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Portoroz, Slovenia.

For the first time in the IWC’s 70-year history, delegates attending from member countries will be invited to acknowledge growing evidence that whales don’t decrease fish numbers – the primary excuse for continued whaling by Japan, Norway and Iceland – and they actually have the opposite effect.

Research is revealing that whale dung brings nutrients to the surface waters, which generates food for more fish by stimulating the growth of phytoplankton, the tiny organisms that are eaten by krill. These then become prey for fish. Phytoplankton also suck carbon dioxide out of the air, helping to limit global warming.

Swimming rain forests

The unprecedented resolution, which member countries will vote on, was submitted by Chile. “Increasing scientific evidence shows that whales enhance ecosystem productivity by concentrating nitrogen and iron near the surface through the release of faecal plumes,” it says. “Iron defecation from whales stimulates carbon export into the Southern Ocean, and thus whales play an important role in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.”

The meeting is still likely to feature the usual argument over whether Japan, Norway and Iceland should stop killing whales altogether – in line with a moratorium on commercial whaling agreed 30 years ago (see “Whale meat again”, below). But conservationists are delighted that the call could help steer the IWC towards a more environmentally oriented agenda, recasting whales as “swimming rainforests”.

“This is an exciting new horizon for the IWC,” says Claire Bass, UK director of Humane Society International. “It inspires us to see whales not as resources to be exploited, or as competitors for fish stocks, but as ecologically essential geo-engineers.”

“It means there will be an increased focus on whale conservation activities rather than banging on about whaling all the time,” says Sharon Livermore of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Science backs dung

It’s only in the last 10 years that we’ve started to appreciate the impact the animals have on the environment, which continues even after they die. “Whales sequester carbon in their enormous bodies and support entire deep-sea communities that depend on whale falls,” says Joe Roman of the University of Vermont in Burlington.

One study in 2010 estimated that rebuilding whale populations to pre-whaling levels would remove 160,000 tonnes of carbon each year in sunken carcasses.

Despite the optimism, though, the field is still young, and research sometimes throws up more equivocal results. Some studies have indicated that whales are important while others suggest their effect is insignificant, says Stephen Nicol of the University of Tasmania. “But I think that as this field develops, the evidence for the significant positive effect of whales and other large animals on marine ecosystems will continue to grow, and become part of mainstream ecological thought.”

The Chilean resolution seeks to help resolve these uncertainties by encouraging the IWC to support more research on the issue.

Murky dung with silver lining

Livermore is optimistic about the likelihood of the resolution being accepted. “The draft resolution has a good chance of being adopted, either by consensus or majority vote,” she says.

If this happens, and more research is commissioned, it could have huge benefits, says Roman. “Chile’s resolution is designed to help whales, people and the planet, and so whales have helped us reconsider the commercialisation of wildlife,” he says.

And despite the murky appearance of most whale dung, there is a silver lining – when it floats to the surface, “we even see the water glisten from fish scales,” says Roman.

Whale meat again

By Andy Coghlan

Conservationists welcome research demonstrating what whales can do for us and the planet, but the 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission is likely to focus yet again on discouraging Japan, Norway and Iceland from continued whaling.

Despite an IWC ban on commercial whaling 30 years ago, these three countries have consistently found ways around it. Humane Society International (HSI) estimates that together, the countries have killed 40,000 whales since 1986.

Japan justifies killing whales as part of a long-standing research programme.  Despite a verdict from the International Court of Justice in 2014 that its whaling activities are not for the purposes of science, Japan has continued its programme, killing 333 minke whales in 2015/16 , including 200 pregnant females.

It also repeatedly seeks IWC authorisation for what it calls small-type coastal whaling, in which minkes and other small whales could legally be caught in Japanese waters by communities said to depend traditionally on the meat.

In the IWC meeting, conservation groups will push strongly for commissioners to criticise Japan for its continued “scientific whaling”. They have also vowed to oppose strategies to sidestep the moratorium, including Japan’s small-type coastal whaling.

“Loopholes also continue to be exploited by Iceland and Norway to kill whales for profit,” says Kitty Block, vice president of HSI. “The world has largely moved on from killing whales, and most of the IWC’s work is now quite rightly about the protection of whales, so it’s long overdue for these three countries to join the rest of the international community in protecting and conserving these majestic animals.”

Other key issues to be debated in the next fortnight include:

• Pushing for creation of a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, which requires three-quarters of the member states to vote in favour
• Increasing research and efforts to reduce accidental capture and death of cetaceans in fishing nets, which kills an estimated 300,000 animals each year
• Assembling international teams trained to rescue stranded whales and dolphins
• Strengthening measures to avoid harm to cetaceans from ship strikes, noise pollution and intrusive whale-watching