The study focused on a handful of baleen species — namely, gray whales, humpback whales and right whales — which display ...

Through urine, feces, placentas, carcasses and sloughing skin, whales bring thousands of tons of nitrogen and other nutrients from high-latitude areas like Alaska and Antarctica to low-nutrient ...

The oceans are mostly composed of warm salty water near the surface over cold, less salty water in the ocean depths. These ...

Ocean currents and upwellings also transport ... precipitously over the last few centuries, the great whale conveyor belt has weakened. The nutrient transport numbers — by the tons — might ...

The “conveyor belt” is not just made up of urine ... It’s super-cool, and changes how we think about ecosystems in the ocean.” This research also highlights the potential ecological ...

When whales migrate from their cold feeding grounds to warmer breeding waters, they carry tons of nutrients in their urine.

The “conveyor belt” is not just made up of urine ... It’s super-cool, and changes how we think about ecosystems in the ocean.” Brendan Rascius is a McClatchy national real-time reporter ...