Researchers have shared a surprising calf's-eye view of a mother humpback whale in Hawai’i urinating. The footage was taken by a 'Crittercam’ attached to her calf.
“You put a suction cup tag on, in this case, the back of the calf,” says Joe Roman, a conservation biologist at the University of Vermont. His colleague Lars Bejder at the University of Hawai’i shared the footage with him.
“It doesn't hurt the calf, and it stays on for six to 12 hours,” says Roman.
Tags often record things like sound and temperature. “In this case, they also had cameras on,” he says. “The calf is nursing and staying below the mom, and then we see the mom pee.”
The footage has been shared alongside a new study in Nature Communications that reveals whale wee is much more important that scientists previously thought.
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Before this study, “we didn't really think about urine,” says Roman – researchers tended to focus on the benefits of whale pump: when whales feed in deeper waters then defecate at the surface, bringing nutrients to shallower waters.
But whale wee is rich in things like nitrogen and phosphorous too. These migratory animals spread nutrients vertically across the ocean as swim from their feeding to their breeding grounds. And because they stay in smaller areas during the breeding season, they’re adding extra benefits in these regions in the form of more golden showers.
Dubbed “the great whale pee funnel,” this process is vital for keeping tropical ecosystems – which are typically low in nutrients – healthy and thriving.
“The way whales and other highly mobile species link far-away places is profound,” says Matt Scott Savoca, a research associate at the Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, who was not involved in the study.
He also wonders about other long-distance migratory animals, such as salmon, that transport nutrients long distances across the planet, saying: “Just consider what the billions of terrestrial migratory birds may do!”
“We need a healthy ocean to provide every other breath we take," says Danny Groves, head of communications at Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
"These whales are helping to keep the ocean healthy. They help move nutrients through the ocean and so help maintain healthy ecosystems.”
"This study further amplifies why we need to grow whale populations – ‘save the whale, save ourselves’”.
Main image: Lars Bejder, NOAA permit 21476
