Whales might be a valuable resource when it comes to fighting climate change, scientists say.
A new study by the University of Otago and the University of Alaska Southeast has found that whales might be the biggest living carbon sink in the pelagic zone of the open ocean.
Whales naturally absorb CO2, and because of their enormous size, they can take in a lot.
It means that when they die and sink to the sea floor, all that carbon has been spared from seeping into the atmosphere.
"Their size and longevity allow whales to exert strong effects on the carbon cycle by storing carbon more effectively than small animals, ingesting extreme quantities of prey, and producing large volumes of waste products," the authors said.
"Considering that baleen whales have some of the longest migrations on the planet, they potentially influence nutrient dynamics and carbon cycling over ocean-basin scales."
The study says that whales will eat up to 4% of their body weight daily. Their diets are mostly made up of krill and photosynthetic plankton. For a blue whale, this is roughly 3.6 tonnes of food a day.
Krill and plankton absorb carbon through photosynthesis, and whales can help this process.
Whale excrement is rich in nutrients, which means that krill and plankton are able to flourish, increasing the amount of carbon they can pull from the air through photosynthesis.
The research says that whales could be vital to combatting climate change, but commercial whaling is seriously holding this back.
Whale populations have decreased by 81%, meaning there are fewer whales to absorb carbon.
Researchers say conservation is the best way to figure out hope much of impact whales can have on climate change.
"Whale recovery has the potential for long-term self-sustained enhancement of the ocean carbon sink," the authors write.
"The full carbon dioxide reduction role of great whales (and other organisms) will only be realised through robust conservation and management interventions that directly promote population increases."
It comes as negotiators reached a historic deal at a UN biodiversity conference overnight.
As part of the agreement, countries have committed to protecting 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity by 2030. Currently, 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas are protected.
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