Whale poop is probably the largest excrement in the world, but
with that excrement comes the fact that the bright orange poop
fertilizes the ocean’s surface, allowing more plankton to grow
and, in turn, more whales. Marine biologists believe that whales
are essentially the gardeners of the ocean, playing a huge role
(no pun intended) in both nutrient and carbon cycles, reports
Wired. Joe Roman, a conservation biologist at the University of
Vermont, stated: “Whales and marine mammals can fertilize their
surface waters. This can result in more plankton, more fish, and
more whales.” Roman and Harvard zoologist James McCarthy took
samples of humpback whale poop in the Gulf of Maine in 2010,
coming up with a theory about the “whale pump.” McCarthy
described how whales that feed at depth carry nitrogen to the
warm, energy-rich surface of the ocean, where they then
discharge it in “flocculent fecal plumes.” The term flocculent
means that the whale’s excrement is fluffy or wooly in nature,
allowing it to float. While