The Incredible Truth About Krill that Scientists Got Wrong

[@max-kew-4269]

Very enlightening and informative. While most sane people in the world advocate the protection of whales I wonder how many people know that saving krill is of equal importance.

[@h.e.hazelhorst9838]

I fully agree! That said, it is the same widespread fenomenon: Pandas are cared for and millions of dollars are spent and it is because they look cute. Bees are getting widespread positive attention because they produce honey and usually don’t sting, yet at the same time they threaten their wild cousins…It takes a lot of good communication to get a broad audience understand what’s at stake. And even then, the message should be ept simple.

[@geoffgeoff143]

I have long thought that. People cry save the whales then go buy krill oil.

[@ADude-f3z]

Sadly, “sane” people seem to be the minority…

[@gregorysagegreene]

I'm astounded that he uncovered a 'biological mutualism' that effectively supersedes the 'keystone species' aspect, because here there are in fact three organisms locked in an embrace. Strange that we have to destroy first before we are motivated to go out and understand. Question: Can we store, process, and then ship all our human poop out there? 🤔

[@sekaiomiruhitokaminoyume5426]

@@gregorysagegreeneit’s not we don’t know, it’s what we want to know, facts are out there, people don’t learn because they don’t want to, be smart is to much in this society, what did you expect ? This is not a new concept for biology, it’s details of what should have been taken seriously

[@gregacole]

About 40,000 Humpbacks pass our doorsteps here in Sydney every year. We love to watch them from the beaches and on local news stories. We spent years saving them now we are taking their food and selling it locally in bottles using spurious marketing campaigns of its benefits. We need to debunk these myths and get these products off the shelves.

[@Fluffy-Tail-0000]

Back to Hell with you.

[@Spiritualpanda2]

Why is Australia doing that? What the hell? I hate the wealthy people, politicians and corporations that are just out for the money thinking the next guy will do the right thing but no one is doing anything to protect our environment. All they care about is making money. Greed is such a disgusting human characteristic and it sickens me to the core.

[@briseboy]

US canada, europe are swallowing all that krill oil, and you can BET 1.7 billion Chinese are, as they were eating sea squirts for centuries, and now strip indonesian reefs of anything. I am not even going to elaborate or itemize, the Chines maw is so enormous and all-consuming - iwas disgusted as a child at tbeir taking everything to grow excess people, who emigrate then form gangs to spew automatic weapons fire - a friend was prezent whe one of those events occurred in a Chinatown i will not here name. Pass the contraceptives, please, with abortifacient chaser.

[@gregorm9183]

Whales deserve much more respect than man has shown them thus far.

[@sjsomething4936]

I’d extend this statement to cover our entire planet. Many humans don’t seem to get it, things need to live in balance. As the ultimate apex predator on our planet, we have the ability to completely upset and potentially destroy entire ecosystems and we use technology to bail ourselves out for food production for ourselves. This doesn’t help the other affected species in the impacted ecosystems. Our technology plus societal structures need to change to acknowledge that never ending growth is not sustainable - our technological prowess *does* permit us to grow our population beyond what nature ever would have normally permitted with typical predator-prey relationships and famine-feast cycles.

[@riverAmazonNZ]

When i saw krill oil marketed it was the same feeling for me as when I saw whitebait cat food. Like is this necessary. I don’t think so.

[@egay86292]

do you think an addict asks 'is this necessary'?

[@snowmiaow]

Agree. I am sad when I see tuna sold and given out at the food pantry.

[@deandeann1541]

Not necessary for who?@@williambrandondavis6897

[@alexcarter8807]

When you get shrimp cup-0-noodles, etc those tiny shrimp you get a few of, those are krill. Congratulations, you're eating a whale's dinner.

[@brucelee5576]

@@alexcarter8807 Bruh now I’m broke and ashamed . Thanks

[@brianstevens3858]

Whales aside: The Krill fishing industry needs to feed the phytoplankton if it wants to remain economically viable, and sustainable.

[@JugglinJellyTake01]

I think re-employing fishermen who have knowledge of the area to monitor and if possible provide iron in a form phytoplankton can use. This would be a way of providing a Just Transition to the industry. Personally I woul seek a ban on krill fishing due to the long life cycle it takes to be popular them. Krill is mostly used for supplements and feedstock to the aquaculture industry as far as I know. There are many rivers in Scotland that now have no trout or salmon.

[@brianstevens3858]

@@JugglinJellyTake01 The US too.

[@mrman1536]

We need more carbon dioxide to sustain the growth of krill. krill consume plankton phytoplankton zooplankton, the start of our food chain . They do this by the photosynthesis prosess and the byproduct is oxygen.

[@brianstevens3858]

@@mrman1536 Krill are not algal, Most krill are filter feeders, and use their front legs to comb through the water for food. Their favorite meals include plant-like phytoplankton, single-celled algae called diatoms, and sometimes even tiny animals like zooplankton and fish larvae. They don't use photosynthesis directly although the phytoplankton they eat do. Since phytoplankton live close to and on the surface they are getting plenty of co2, it's not lack of co2.

[@brianstevens3858]

@@mrman1536 ""Measurements of air in ice cores show that for the past 800,000 years up until the 20th century, the atmospheric CO2 concentration stayed within the range 170 to 300 parts per million (ppm), making the recent rapid rise to more than 400 ppm over 200 years particularly remarkable"" That is pretty indicative that it's not lack of co2. No?

[@timothyleach6319]

The idea of fertilizing the oceans with iron for climate control, even if that does not work for net carbon capture, could just help increase the food for all creatures up the food web. I say it’s worth a try.

[@h.e.hazelhorst9838]

Yes, the same goes for salmon and maybe even for just about any endangered fish species in the Arctic and Antartic regions. We should not simply dump iron fertilizer in the ocean, but start with experiments and carefully monitor what happens. One thing to consider is this: apparently the phyto-plankton> krill > predator > poop system is largely a closed system. Much of the nutrients stay in the loop. Once we remove biomass by fishing and whaling, we also remove minerals out of the system, minerals that are replaced at a slower rate than they are removed (in the antartic region, replenishment is probably mostly by upwelling, not by dust coming in from desert sands!) We must experiment on a limited scale and see if we can restore the mineral balance quicker.

[@davidmartin6131]

This is fascinating and a great example of system thinking.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you for your appreciation

[@julescaru8591]

We just never learn do we and in the end We doom ourselves 😢

[@rambleon1417]

I quit buying krill oil years ago. I get my omega 3s from flax seed oil, avocados, and nuts.

[@MrPiquo]

Unsanctioned iron fertilizing around alaska once seemed to cause salmon populations to spike. Iron caused plancton and the ecosystem to flourish which lead to better survival. We know iron seeping into oceans can cause plankton growth naturally but too much causes decistating ecological disasters. So controlled spread of iron, even low grade unprocessed but powdered iron laced rock could be an affordable solution. If krill fishers were forced to spread that iron it would save trips and cost and pay the fishers to be responsible

[@joshuaerkman1444]

YES! I completely agree. From a legislative perspective if we place the responsibility on Krill Fishers to contribute a similar amount of iron nutrients as they harvest we will go a long way to improving this problem. It wouldn't be an unrealistic financial burden on the fishers and they could distribute small amounts of iron on their trips to and from the fishery. This would mimic the nature process and create a mutual relationship. Another important measure would be requiring fishers to carry simple scientific instruments which measure krill populations and make this data available to a regulatory agency for continuous careful monitoring of the krill stocks.

[@terryvalentine369]

Wow, one video, and you’re ready to start dumping iron in the ocean, I suspect there’s more to it than that. And that whales did a lot more for our environment than feed krill.

[@joshuaerkman1444]

@@terryvalentine369 It's not the first I've heard of it. I spent a summer researching plankton lifecycles and I would love if you could find a KZbin video about it I haven't seen. Careful monitoring and data collection along with low level iron fertilization is an obvious next step in our research of these important biological systems. Perhaps a global research symposium should be hosted in 5 years to review the results but moving forward with some careful controlled and limited action seems to me a good idea. We already take from the ocean why not give back.

[@thesun6211]

Iron fertilization, like low-dose GFO supplementation for the whole Southern Ocean?

[@aareview8258]

​@@joshuaerkman1444I agree with you on this one. While I seemed like a great idea a more hands off approach would be more suitable. A little bit if human intervention can go a long way but let's allow nature to undergo natural processes to balance things out.

[@Atheistbatman]

Great video I’m a horticulturist. For 3 yrs there have been no earthworms in Rome ga and no fly larvae in trash cans. 2 yrs in a row vegetable crops in town stopped growing after only 2 nights warmer than the days. This year was ok except pome fruits had 90% crop failure in GA due to lack of chill hours during winter. I don’t expect anyone to care since 90% of birds and bugs have been gone and plants growing cycles have been off a decade and no one says anything The change is exponential not linear and we deserve 100% of what’s coming

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you for your comment. Sobering to know

[@billpetersen298]

No earthworms? Any idea what’s happening. That is horrible. The files too, are obviously important.

[@Atheistbatman]

@@billpetersen298 (this is just my speculation on my observations locally. I have not seen any current research) I’ve dug in the dirt everyday for 30 yrs. I saw earthworms in the area decline in health and numbers for 5 yrs before they vanished. All flying insects have about vanished from when I was young. Insect respiration relies on more evapotranspiration (yes that’s a word) and is more dependent(?) on O2 and CO2 %s…I’m not an Entomologist….but it’s a pie chart…more CO2% less O2%. I think insects are suffocating. Fewer insects fewer birds I’m a horticulturist don’t get me started on the messed up blooming cycles every plant is experiencing just in my area I don’t care what anyone says about sea level rise or glacier melt or climate change denial It’s happening very rapidly in Rome, Ga…all of Southeastern US Buy as much freeze dried food as u can afford…mountain house has best flavor…last 20-50 yrs Thank you for commenting and Happy Thanksgiving

[@Factchecker111]

I've seen simular lack of insects, worms, birds in the UK too. Fourty years ago you couldn't drive very far without having a car covered in insects on return. Last year I spent a whole weekend driving those same roads and there wasn't any trace on my car on return, not a single thing. It isn't car design, they simply no longer exist in the numbers they once did and it isn't very long ago. It should be of huge concern but people seem oblivious.

[@billpetersen298]

@@Factchecker111 Normalcy bias. I'm in BC Canada. We are blessed with an amazing natural endowment. Most people here are from somewhere else, or are not watching their surroundings. They are in awe of the forest, and the ocean. When I go into the forest, as often as I can. I see, the white birch are almost all gone from a disease. Many cedars are dead or brown, from dry summers. This year as of September there had been 2217 forest fires, 384 still burning. Comprising 25000 sq km. Warm winters, caused beetle kills in the pine forests, of the interior, and north. The average person, does not connect buying things from China. With the massive pollution, that reaches us all. In Vancouver we have very few song birds, any more. Just lots and lots of crows.

[@PaulRiley-ev9it]

in part they were save by the oil industry, which provided lubricating and heating oils. circa 1880 onwards.

[@billpetersen298]

Irony. Every time we fix a problem with tech. We get something else. Or just more people.

[@fusion9619]

Thank God for oil and coal. If CO2 really does trap heat, then maybe we can prevent another glaciation. Wouldn't that be ironic? After all the lies, civilization is saved by the thing everyone thought was gonna kill us... but tbh I doubt it's going to be enough.

[@wendymorrison5803]

No krill, no baleen whales, no other krill feeders. When whales were hunted to near extinction we didnt know the ECO systems that relied on whale waste. No whales, no whale poop. No whale poop, no zoo plankton. No zoo plankton no small fish, bigger fish, big fish. No penguins, no seals, no Orca's, no squid and octopus. No crabs, no lobsters. No hunting whales. No renewal. All bad.

[@NathanTarantlawriter]

So, the scientists didn't know this until the scientists knew this. Isn't that supposed to be how science works?

[@snowmiaow]

The ecological niche of humans seems to be to disturb a small area, then move on and the area recovers. But now we are disturbing very large areas.

[@joelhungerford8388]

All predator species do this

[@rickwrites2612]

​@@joelhungerford8388except for that last part, which is the point.

[@joelhungerford8388]

@rickwrites2612 the areas of the earth humans destroy, will all recover at some point

[@raystory7059]

On land the cycle is similar to the one that feeds Krill in the ocean. Grazing animals fertilize the grass they feed upon in the same way that iron rich whale excrement promotes more Krill growth in this aquatic cycle of life.

[@billyray323]

I wonder if we're capable of building krill farms, to give back to the sea, especially where the smallest whale populations are, to encourage the growth of such beautiful species.. Great video, we as a race need to take more care of nature, the environments & each other, whilst limiting our population growth.

[@andrewst9797]

Artificial whale excrements feeding the krill.. feeding more whales.. feeding more krill

[@alexandercarlson6800]

Yeah one of the concepts in that regard is iron fertilizing open ocean waters, which results in algal blooms and this can be good or bad. In certain areas it will result in high levels of diatoms which is it necessarily bad as they can be consumed and usually in those areas they are able to sink down really far and no longer be a part of the upper surface carbon cycle, in other areas the algal blooms are in shallower waters and warmer Waters and result in anoxic situations when they die. Taking a boat out there and replicating a pod of whales defecating in the area is pretty easy and concept, but getting everybody to agree to actually do it is another matter.

[@friendlyone2706]

@@alexandercarlson6800 Would human sewage work? Adding iron to the water is associated with triggering ice ages -- a real killer.

[@douggaudiosi14]

I guy off the coast of the PNW was revitalizing the phytoplankton which is the food source of krill by infusing the water with microscopic iron shavings and the government arrested him fined him and ceased all operations

[@brianbrandt25]

I think it would take a lot of iron to do that. Large volcanic eruptions in Alaska cause krill populations to spike causing sockeye populations to spike. yum.@@friendlyone2706

[@mrmosty5167]

As a field naturalist for the last 20+ years I was mostly interested in birds and insects. It was only a couple years ago that I got really into mammals and the biology of our "classmates". Whales, and especially baleen species, quickly seemed to become one of my favorite subjects next to Carnivoran predators. Can't imagine what things would be like without these giant, broomtooth marvels in our oceans...

[@kenwoodburn7438]

What do you think of the "Climate Change" hoax?

[@tomg6284]

CO2 IS PLANT FOOD. Not pollution.

[@OakenTome]

And humans need oxygen. Too much oxygen is detrimental to humans.

[@johnkruk6929]

A beautiful presentation of insight & research that has been undertaken , thank you for sharing on the Utube platform

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you

[@KxNOxUTA]

Amazing documentary and information. Thank you for sharing these findings in an accessible manner!

[@OutThereLearning]

@@KxNOxUTA thanks for your comment

[@SandyRiverBlue]

What's sad is that they were mostly hunted not for their meat but instead to help supply the margarine industry with a cheap hydrogenated fat source.

[@bryanmoyna9715]

Cheap for us, not so for whales and nature.

[@janetcindy8016]

Killing the whales just killed the ocean. And it kills humans.

[@dlanska]

Extremely well presented. The speaker, Mathew Savoca, is an excellent, knowledgeable, and articulate spokesperson.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your appeciation

[@monnoo8221]

i am now 62y and observed the decline of the environment since I am a kid. The pestilenzia of the car first poisoned us with octane, causing millions of allergies, then with lead, and now with micro plastics from the tires... This is just a tiny example. And all because the lack of compassion, stupidity and primitive mindset. As a biologist the ongoing damaging makes me very sad. And it starts like this: People are too stupid too use soap, or separate trash, or or or and endless list

[@phineasbrass3186]

Then they shrug off personal responsibility and say, “I refuse to listen, this is all made up.”

[@mahroofmohammed741]

Love the way you explained everything, I even felt goosebumps at some points ♥️

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your appreciation!

[@codelinx]

Crazy though.. Japan and other countries are still whaling in astronomical numbers.

[@renripari5514]

VERY INTERESTING ! I HAD NO IDEA . THANKYOU 👍. KIND REGARDS. FROM AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers!

[@DannyHeywood]

Can't we use a crop duster and an old Airtcraft Carrier to dump some iron powder around there? haha

[@patrick247two]

During the peak of whaling the sea bottom became a desert. This effect is continuing.

[@Anyreck]

Very interesting & important findings.

[@jedi10101]

problem mentioned at 6:18 seems the solution was already mentioned at 5:22 (basically add iron).

[@viennapalace]

In a year of extreme heat, Antarctica’s last six months were the coldest on record. “For the polar darkness period, from April through September, the average temperature was -60.9 degrees Celsius (-77.6 degrees Fahrenheit), a record for those months,” the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said. The last six months is also the darkest period at the South Pole, which is where the name polar darkness (also called polar night) comes from. Here, the sun sets for the last time around the spring equinox, and does not rise again until near the autumn equinox six months later. For the entire Antarctic continent, the winter of 2021 was the second-coldest on record, with the “temperature for June, July, and August 3.4 degrees Celsius (6.1 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than the 1981 to 2010 average at -62.9 degrees Celsius (-81.2 degrees Fahrenheit),” according to a new report from the NSIDC. “This is the second-coldest winter (June-July-August months) on record, behind only 2004 in the 60-year weather record at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station,” the NSIDC said.

[@calebvanderwolf1777]

Is the penny dropping?

[@viennapalace]

@@calebvanderwolf1777 About "climate change" being a scam? It dropped a long time ago...

[@fusion9619]

Ice age incoming

[@kellykwongali]

This scientist is good at keeping his emotional opinion separate from presenting the information with his words, no sarcasm. It's almost as if the krill didn't want to be around if all the whales get killed.

[@growthandunderstanding]

Thank you for sharing this important information.

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers

[@gene4094]

I thought about buying krill oil supplements, but after seeing this I won’t.

[@thegrandlord2914]

Dried krill is considered as food in indonesia, and it taste good if you cook it. Dried krill if you cook it with sambal will have taste like shrimp, but it's so soft. There's a little bit of sweetness in it, not too salty and the aroma of shrimp it have are not that stinky like dried shrimp. So dried krill is safe enough for those who hate food with strong aroma

[@Lmaluko]

Maybe if the iron was removed from the local cycle a program to reseed it could really help the local population go back to their historical numbers. There was a program aimed to do that but to reduce climate change if I'm not mistaken.

[@comfortablynumb9342]

I saw humpback whales jumping offshore when I was standing on a Pacific beach in the southern end of Costa Rica. They were a couple miles away but we could see them jumping and splashing. It was fascinating. It's hard to imagine people killing them.

[@frankviterise7333]

One of the best videos I have watched in a long time. Absolutely amazing And awesome Thank you !

[@philipb2134]

When whales sing the blues: "the krill is gone...'

[@markallen2984]

Fascinating and frightening

[@petercoverdale5003]

Did the krill numbers fall because China and Japan started harvesting krill in massive quantities over the last 40 years?

[@differous01]

Spikes & dips in ice-core CO2 are followed closely by spikes & dips in benthic foraminifera: more CO2 = more for the rest of the food chain.

[@kraftzion]

The answer is simple. Replace the iron that was removed from the system.

[@JugglinJellyTake01]

I would favour an outright ban on krill fishing and re-emloy fishermen for conservation and monitoring. A Just Transition for fishermen in conservation and monitoring is ideal as they have local knowledge. Aquaculture is a disastrous industry which financialises our estuaries and destroy our river and estuary ecosystems. If there is one form of aquaculture that might have a future it is growing mussels on ropes which apparently have a carbon footprint of 1/2 kg CO2 per kg of mussels. Also there are other potential sources of omega 3s which are typically made by plants and some fish but the higher you go up the food chain the less able they are at converting between omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Plant based or lab grown phytoplankton based omega 3s might be better solution.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your interesting comment

[@eljanrimsa5843]

Aquaculture is mainly done in China with grass carp and other carp species which has no impact on "our river and estuary ecosystems"

[@JugglinJellyTake01]

​@@eljanrimsa5843aquaculture is done in many countries across Europe, South East Asia, Canada and likely many others. They may be farmed in estuaries eg trout and salmon, salt or fresh water eg tilapia or in ponds eg sand goby and carp. Your assertion that aquaculture is largely done in China when there are serious problems across Canada and Western Europe from salmon farming, sea lice and deleterious impacts on wild populations is seriously misleading or grossly misinformed.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

@@JugglinJellyTake01 I agree with you that Western-style salmon farming poses serious problems, but you don't seem to be aware that this is only a small part of global aquaculture. Top producer China produces 64 million tons of fish per year, compared to 1.5 million tons in Norway, 1.4 million tons in the whole EU, and 0.5 million tons in the United States. The top 3 farmed fish species globally are grass carp, silver carp and common carp, and four more carp species are among the top 10. Because carps are not predators, carp production does not have the inherent problem of salmon production which needs to catch more fish than what it produces to feed the salmons.

[@gregorysagegreene]

In further mathematical context, in the mid 1900's in 2 generations we took out the whale equivalent human biomass of roughly our human increase (x2) in population in 3 generations since the 70's.

[@janetthomson-r7k]

Very interesting video, thank you

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks

[@rambultruesdell3412]

Like the rainforest, regeneration goes slowly. Amazing regarding how the iron enables the plankton to grow allowing the food web.

[@kevincurrie2052]

Lovely footage, sad that we are still not supporting whales like we should.

[@DonLuc23]

This could have been interesting, but, the "music" makes it too annoying to watch.

[@wlhgmk]

Because of the sinking of pellets, we need grey whales in the mix who feed on organisms like amphipods on the bottom. The bottom living organisms feed on this rain of organic material. They are needed to bring this nutrient source back to the photic zone. A way of thinking about the ecology of the area is that it is harvesting sunlight. There is an excess of sun energy in the Antarctic summer but the amount of it that can be harvested depends on the amount of nutrients in the water for the phytoplankton to harvest. Nutrients are the limiting factor. As the whales build up, the number of whale poops increases and more sunlight can be harvested supporting more phytoplankton, krill and whales. When humans harvest the krill, they don't return the end result of digestion back into the water. It is a continual drain of nutrients from the system. It may be unsustainable even though it seems to be relatively insignificant when compared to the amount of Krill in the water.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you for your explanation

[@outcastoffoolgara]

Well done, thank you.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks!

[@rmar127]

Could iron seeding help recover krill populations? For instance if fisheries are set a quota for their catches, then they’d have an obligation to seed the areas they are fishing in. However at a twofold rate. This would ensure that phytoplankton, zooplankton and krill numbers are not just maintained, but increased year on year.

[@sjsomething4936]

I wondered the same thing, or if there’s additional magic in the whale poop that would also need to be present. I’m sure it could be worked out though, and should be tried. Putting more krill into the oceans probably would help whale populations increase as there would be food available, and it would permit the krill harvesting industry to continue and potentially even increase their harvest. The iron in the krill biomass _might_ even absorb CO2, which would be an amazing thing if it is found to be true.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

That would increase the catch for the krill fishery but not benefit the whales.

[@rmar127]

@@eljanrimsa5843 it would definitely help the whales if the the fisheries have a set maximum catch limit

[@WeighedWilson]

​@@eljanrimsa5843He's talking about a 'plant 2, harvest 1' system.

[@erikjohnson9223]

This might not be a problem in the Southern Ocean and other polar areas, but I am always worried about proposals to generate algal blooms. In temperate through tropical climates, at least, when such algae die, they create a stupendous biological oxygen demand as they rot, resulting in deoxygenated water and "dead zones" (check out the outlets of major river systems, which drain continental nutrients into the seas; this problem always occurred to some extent off the Mississippi or Amazon deltas, but has gotten much worse as expanding human populations lead to supplementing the erosion-based fertilizer with agricultural and urban run-off--poop has a lot of phosphate). Also many phytoplankton are themselves toxic (red tides from dinoflagelates, usually in warm seas; cyanotoxins from blue-green algae seemingly everywhere). How do you prevent the proliferation of toxic "weed algae?"

[@itravellight]

Great science. Great research. Enlightening discoveries. Excellent video! We are part of the circle of life but possess the ability to disrupt or destroy it. Let's hope we don't.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you

[@Innomen]

For a pure entropy standpoint where is the energy coming from? Sounds like you described a nearly closed loop. Is it just sunlight?

[@zworm2]

The harvesting of Krill, which is a relatively recent development for mostly the Omega factors in the krill oil so humans can consume it in the hope that it will prolong their lives is obscene. The krill also is used for animal feed, also obscene and both of these are unnecessary for our survival. Krill is such an important part of the marine foodweb it has to be protected. I remember Jacque Cousteau traveling to the Antarctic and sampling krill to eat. The crew declared krill to be inedible. Another show followed the krill as it migrated from Antarctica and fed innumerable varieties of marine life from whales to sardines. Now phase two of Save the Whales is save the whales food supply. Emaciated whales are washing up on shore even now. Save the Krill!

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you for your comment

[@huldu]

To be honest it could be said about most things in the ocean we humans consume. Don't get me started on the aggressive crab fishing that takes place every year. It's beyond ridiculous that it's even legal. Every single animal in the ocean fills a role, period. Even if we started to grow our own food, ie fisheries it doesn't solve anything if anything it makes it even worse due to industrialization. Those fisheries are a complete disaster in themselves as they need to medicate the fish and that seeps into the water and causes havoc.

[@zworm2]

are getting better and more is to come. Krill are a particularly important brick in the lowest levels of the food web and the reason we harvest them is so pathetic and self serving. It could be done away with and no one but fools would notice. It really is shameful. @@huldu

[@andersjuhljensen9244]

The video hints at the solution, but don't quite spell it out. Iron fertilization of southern seas! This will increase algae growth and carbon sequestration and sedimentation. This will increase krill biomass and krill production, which in turn will feed more whales and other animals and fish, which will help sustain higher algae growth, more krill and more whales and more fish etc. A virtuos circle. Man can also increase harvest of krill and fish. A Win-Win.

[@erikjohnson9223]

Algal blooms are not entirely safe, mind you.

[@andersjuhljensen9244]

@@erikjohnson9223 The claim of the video is that primary production (algae) was much higher in the area a century ago, and we do not have any reason to think that this level has not been sustained for centuries. Now the video also claim is that the reduction of whale population had the effect of a collapsing primary production, because iron level in the upper water column dropped. Now my claim is that Iron fertilization could (relatively cheaply) help restore primary production towards the level a century ago. Is your claim that primary production a century ago was an unsafe algae bloom?

[@erikjohnson9223]

@@andersjuhljensen9244 My claim is that adding fertilizer causes many algae to grow, toxic as well as beneficial types, and that overfertilization can have disastrous effects by raising Biological Oxygen Demand as the algae rots. (Think of the anaerobic dead zones near the mouths of major rivers, or what happens if sewage is released into waterways.) Dosing and monitoring of nutrient additions is important.

[@alphalunamare]

If you destroy your home you have no right to be there.

[@MrLeeBoy1994]

Simply leave the krill alone for some seasons and have scientists have controlled dumps of iron and other micronutrients back into these areas of the ocean to increase blooms and biodiversity. The only problem is fighting these companies and fisheries that only think of their profits and not preserving the environment. Have the government do some type of payout. Seriously where are our tax dollars going anyway?...

[@eljanrimsa5843]

The ocean is not property of any one nation. Which government are you talking about?

[@yota4004]

I would think that as whale populations recover, the amount of whale poop will proportionately increase as will the krill population. if your theory is correct about their relationship.

[@pjconey]

Whenever you remove a predator, the prey ultimately suffers. They see it with deer, antelope and so on.

[@starmanmcfly2752]

Very Cool, thank you

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers

[@chrissscottt]

Nice work.

[@oceandivermu]

Maybe krill harvesting is the problem. Krill oil is sold in pharmacies world wide as a dietary supplement. A Russian krill harvesting company placed an order for 8 new krill harvesting ships. COVID intervened.

[@MrDhalli6500]

IRON POWDER, IRON POWDER, IRON POWDER. Spread iron powder all over the gyre and the krill will bloom. Get the ships that are fishing the krill to spread the iron powder seems pretty simple to me. Yes it's already been done and it works. It's proven science.

[@rmar127]

My thoughts exactly. Though have the fishing fleets seed at a higher rate than they are harvesting. This would help to build krill populations year on year. Ensuring that both whales and fishing fleets have more than enough to survive.

[@michaelyoung7261]

Now that we know the connectivity between whales and krill (which sounds similar to Duneks Sandworms), what do we use krill for? We fish them, but what other industries are dependent on krill?

[@Spiritualpanda2]

Supplements mostly. They’re great for omegas and the building blocks of cartilage like chondroitin or glucosamine I believe.

[@Mang_ulil]

Krill and whale relationship is like cattle and human. cattle is so many because it's main predator exist. Without human the number of cattle will drop significantly

[@OutThereLearning]

Interesting comparison

[@jamesreedii1804]

So we raise fish so HELLO it all boils down to money .

[@efranlaboy554]

Life finds his way

[@brentfrank7012]

Really interesting, can we boost krill production somehow?

[@lindsaydempsey5683]

So we've lost something like 100 Mt of whales due to industrial whaling practices and they have only recovered a little since reducing industrial whaling. Krill have decreased in the absence of whales and whales numbers are only recovering very slowly. I would love to know what would happen if we added a quantity of iron to the ocean equivalent of 100 Mt of these great animals. Could we reboot the krill productivity of the oceans within the normal range of the whales by doing so, and help support a stronger recovery of these great animals? I would love to see some science on that prospect.

[@OutThereLearning]

Great question. A lot of comments with a similar idea

[@DavidSiebert]

So start geo-engineering and dump some Fe in the southern ocean. Not only will it help the whales it will reduce the co2. Seems like a win, win, win to me.

[@ericswain4177]

A bit misleading You say you know on one hand and then you don't know. Make up your mind.

[@adamesd3699]

This is so fascinating.

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers!

[@fredkelly6953]

The ocean is a big toilet not just our own.

[@alexcarter8807]

Whales are very important because most of the seas are like deserts. Whales poop and pee, a lot. They're whales! So they're adding fertilizer to the seas. Plus there's "whale fall" which is when a whale dies and falls to the bottom. This is very important to the deep-sea where the really exotic animals live.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your comment

[@coachhannah2403]

Bears are the same! It turns out that bear transfer of salmon Nitrogen from stream to land is a critical for the boreal forests!

[@tonygarcia0072]

Iron fertilisation should be considered to help krill and whales recover. The opponents of this intervention should remember the sheer volume of iron/steel dumped into the oceans during both world wars, and the subsequent large scale harvesting of fish that has taken place…

[@andersjuhljensen9244]

Most of the oceans far from land are deserts. Low bio diversity and low primary production. Fertilization of those deserts could yield millions of tons of healthy seafood and at the same time sequester CO2.

[@tonygarcia0072]

@@andersjuhljensen9244 In order to do that concerns about possible eutrophication as also expressed by some folks who commented on this topic will need to be allayed, which will require rigorous experimentation under controlled conditions. Nature may have already provided an example if the reef near the Titanic wreck really exists.

[@stephengolden6080]

Let's help Nature rebuild and recover.💚✌

[@OutThereLearning]

Yes indeed!

[@jgranahan]

Important info and insight in the message of this video. I’m not sure how much imagery was fabricated though. Looks like cloning of images was done at times.

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

6:38 if we're fishing for krill but not returning nutrients to the area, we're stripping resources...

[@OutThereLearning]

Indeed! Thanks for your comment

[@TheNewPhysics]

can one accelerate recovery by adding iron to the water or adding rusting iron shells to the waters?

[@mikecain6947]

Have the Japanese stopped whaling?

[@calamityjean1525]

If the phytoplankton isn't getting enough iron from whale feces to feed the krill to feed the whales, would it help to add iron to the area artificially?

[@timrobertson8436]

It would be good to know how other species of whales are recovering since the whale hunting ban was implemented and what the raw numbers are of the entire species rather than just percentages of specific populations in selected areas as presented here.

[@shmuelparzal]

If what is stopping krill biomass from increasing is the limited quantity of iron-rich whale-poop, I was wondering if there was any way of fertilising the ocean with the kind of bio-available iron that would help krill stocks to increase, and so increase the amount available to whales, thereby hopefully increasing the baleen whale population

[@JamesKuffner-cg2pv]

I've actually witnessed humpbacks feeding on slimy mackerel , the same way that they feed on krill.

[@wendyscott8425]

I knew not to buy krill oil years ago. I don't see the point of humans taking krill oil. Surely, other oils have just as much nutrition or whatever other benefits krill oil is supposed to provide. Seems to me that humans wouldn't normally have access to krill oil, so why should we be consuming it?

[@gracemercy5825]

The fact that whales dont actively seek to understand human anatomy and continue on with their lives tells me something

[@648Roland]

Have to wonder how the world would be if we never made it to this time in the planets ongoing evolutionary journey.

[@callummackay1031]

Would introducing iron to the whales ocean environment be possible, for krill and phytoplankton populations betterment.

[@helenamcginty4920]

Your title feeds into the anti science trope of conspiracy theorists. 1. Scientists covers a large spectrum of specialisms from astro physics to medicine. From biology to ecology. 2. A scientist is narrating this video. He describes his and his team's scientific research. Please change your headline to reflect that scientists find new information about the importance of krill and the deterioration of the habitat that supports krill.

[@frequencydependent1826]

Whales never got the memo to not poop where you eat and that’s a good thing

[@ArmaSti]

Good documentary. Glad u mentioned climate change and co2... wouldn't be stamped for approval documentary without it.

[@pj_ytmt-123]

Actually we're not meant to eat krill; nor whale meat (no scales).

[@mumblesbadly7708]

Why can’t humans seed the Southern Ocean with iron particles to promote phytoplankton population growth?

[@freehat2722]

I wonder what whale meat tastes like, I heard it's not that great.

[@ericswain4177]

Sounds like we need to replicate the Whale iron-fertilize that area of the ocean to increase krill population and density.

[@briseboy]

We see that certain baleen species do eat other, small schooling fish. Some of the species that do this are also recorded as taking krill. It is heartening to see that even blue whales are not at all limited to antarctic krill populations. (I was shocked to observe the Japanese and other krill harvesting. For health oil, which ACTUALLY comes from phytoplankton. krill, salmon and other "omega 3" are from phytoplankton. I only eat relatively local foods, not even having kelp when it and other seaweed is not taken in local region.) NO ONE needs to eat things from antarctic. Even the arctic eskimos have only taken whales, as did the basques in the north atlantic for just over maybe 15 human lifespans. The pacific wokden boat tribes have been at it longer, but do NOT need their tradition. Let brainworms eat your brain if you believe it ethical to eat animals whose brains dwarf yours. Humans are the most populous large animal ( over about 44 pounds, to hav ever existed. Buy so.e contraceptives and abortifaci,ents, please. 4 times+ the human population of 100 years ago, and crowding out & making hate-hell of everywhere. Harpoon a Trump.

[@MrJohnblaine]

Whales are beautiful glorious beings.