Auspex Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 "Pumping Iron" Here is one of the most interesting closed-loop, self-sustaining resource cycles I have ever encountered: LINK "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 So whales have sinkers and not floaters. Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 Not to get into the graphic details, but "dispersers" might be a better analogy ('loosely' speaking...). "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Oh the Irony. Interesting article showing the symbiosis Of organisms even though the article kind of ignores the planktons ability to support an ever increasing krill population. In every ecosystem there is a finite equation that determines the biomass. As the equation variables change the results also change. Excellent example of the intricacies of life. It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I need to see more mathematical justification. He says 50 tons of iron per sperm whale per year. Even if they were pooping pure iron, it would seem a little high. If iron was only ten percent of the total (which is VERY unlikely), each whale is now responsible for 1,000,000 pounds of material. That is alot per animal, but very little in relation to the bazillion of gallons of water. I doubt it affects the concentration of iron in the water very much. Having doubts, fkaa ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 Here's the paper upon which this popular blog post was based: LINK It will address the route to the thesis in testable terms. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Thanks for the link. That is an excellent example of why I should have read the journal article myself. The original source posted says each whale produces that amount of waste, while the peer-reviewed articles say it is for the whole population, a very significant difference. The journal article is clearly trying to show that the hypothesis may be possible, making many assumptions, probably to justify potential grant money for further research (nothing wrong with that). The original source to the thread is taking it to be factual. Only more research will shed more light on this phenomenon. Fkaa ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I need to see more mathematical justification. He says 50 tons of iron per sperm whale per year. Even if they were pooping pure iron, it would seem a little high. If iron was only ten percent of the total (which is VERY unlikely), each whale is now responsible for 1,000,000 pounds of material. That is alot per animal, but very little in relation to the bazillion of gallons of water. I doubt it affects the concentration of iron in the water very much. Having doubts, fkaa From the paper that Auspex linked: "The Southern Ocean population of 12 000 sperm whales thus consumes 2 × 106 tonnes of prey per year, and this prey contains 60 tonnes of iron. Assuming a nutrient retention rate of 15 per cent (Ronald et al. 1984), we estimate these whales defecate 50 tonnes of iron annually." So my understanding is 50 tonnes for the entire population. If there are 2204 pounds per metric ton, then each whale will release about 9 pounds of iron a year. My big worry is the recent popularity of harvesting krill for krill oil as a dietary suppliment. I would think that would have a huge impact on the krill and whale population over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Slower writer then you.....see post above yours. fkaa ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 My big worry is the recent popularity of harvesting krill for krill oil as a dietary suppliment. I would think that would have a huge impact on the krill and whale population over time. Great point Al. The demand for fish meal for a variety of economic purposes has had a significant impact on the populations of wild fish. The fish meal typically consists of the food sources of the larger fish we enjoy. It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 The more I think about the whale excrement hypothesis, the more troubled I become with it. The Southern Ocean occupies 72,000,000 cubic kilometers, and each cubic kilometer contains 264 billion gallons. This renders the amount of excrement rendered by whales as irrelevant. Ions move freely in water from areas of high concentration, to areas of low concentration, until they are equally distributed. Unless there is some phenomenon that causes the iron to stay concentrated, or the krill or their food source are "johnny on the spot" (pun intended), or if the whales have a latrine, I don't see how it could be utilized before it dissipates. But I have been wrong at least once. fkaa ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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