Whales and Climate Change

Written by Dayeon Woo

Edited by Jasmin Mirzoeva

Our summers are getting hotter, and our winters colder. Some say that the summer we experience today, may be the coolest summer we will ever experience in our lives; others say that the winter we encounter this year may be the warmest in our lives with the rise of climate change. We have been aware of the consequences of climate change for years, but we have never been able to experience its effects as raw as this time in 2026. Climate change is no longer a distant threat; it’s not like a phenomenon we just read off from our textbooks. It’s already affecting our oceans, wildlife, and ecosystems. Among the many organisms being affected by climate change are whales, but—surprisingly—they play an important role in maintaining the health of oceans and even helping regulate the climate. 

Whales are well-known for fertilizing the ocean. They dive deep into the blue ocean for food, and they return back to the surface of the water to breathe and pass stool, bringing important nutrients back to the top (WWF). Not only that, when whales die and sink underwater to the ocean floor, they deliver a massive chunk of fats and essential nutrients to the nutrient-poor deep sea. They are renowned for fertilizing the ocean, but they can also act as a hope when it comes to fighting climate change. 

Storing Carbon

We all know that the trees of the Amazon rainforest absorb a large quantity of carbon dioxide—as a result, they are often called the lungs of the earth. At the same time, the whales have similar abilities as the trees of the Amazon rainforest: they absorb carbon (NOAA, 2024). 

Whales are one of the largest and longest living animals on earth. The unique characteristics of whales allow them to store large amounts of carbon in their bodies compared to other small animals we know of. Also, they consume carbon-rich prey like phytoplankton, zooplankton, forage fish, and squid and tend to exhale relatively little carbon dioxide back into the air (Pearson, 2022). This allows whales to hold on to more carbon in their massive bodies compared to trees which is why they are able to capture an average of 33 tons of carbon dioxide over their lifespan (NOAA, 2024). 

Moreover, as I have mentioned before in the article, whales sink into the floors of the deep sea, fertilizing the ocean: this whole process is called the whale falls. Whale falls help trap carbon dioxides into the sea floor (NOAA, 2024). Being trapped in the seafloor, carbon dioxide is prevented from escaping the ocean and returning back to the atmosphere. 

Phytoplankton Multiplier

One might wonder what kind of relationship there is between the phytoplanktons and the whales. Phytoplanktons are small microscopic organisms that live in the water bodies (Climate Portal, 2022). They might be tiny but they are mighty carbon absorbers, capturing about 37 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide—which is estimated to be four times the amount of CO2 captured by the trees of the Amazon rainforest (WWF). 

Whale pump is one of many mechanisms which work to multiply the number of phytoplanktons. Put simply, whale pump is the way nutrients in the ocean is recycled through secretion of whales (Black, 2015). Whales often dive deep into the ocean searching for prey, but they have to come back to the surface to breathe. During this process, they not only breathe but secrete wastes. They expel large amounts of nutrient-rich feces and urines, pumping nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron from the deep sea up to the surface. Once these compounds meet the sunlight, it triggers carbon-capturing phytoplankton blooms (NOAA, 2024). These microscopic organisms help mitigate the effect of climate change by absorbing the equivalent amount of CO2 as Amazon rainforest as mentioned above. 

Superficially, whales just may seem like another species on earth being threatened by this alarming change of climate. However, we must know their vital role in the ocean is protecting our one and only home. We must know that we cannot solve the climate crisis on our own or on their own. Protecting whales is much more than just protecting enormously gigantic animals as climate change continues to change our planet. 

References

Fisheries, NOAA. “Whales and Carbon Sequestration: Can Whales Store Carbon?” NOAA, www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/whales-and-carbon-sequestration-can-whales-store-carbon. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

Opinion Whales in the Carbon Cycle: Can Recovery Remove Carbon Dioxide?, www.mmc.gov/wp-content/uploads/Pearsonetal2022.pdf. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

“Phytoplankton.” MIT Climate Portal, climate.mit.edu/explainers/phytoplankton. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

“Sciencespeak: Whale Pump.” Science, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/sciencespeak-whale-pump. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

User, Guest. “Whales: Nature-Based Buffers against the Climate Crisis.” WWF Protecting Whales & Dolphins Initiative, 3 Jan. 2024, wwfwhales.org/news-stories/whales-nature-based-buffers-against-the-climate-crisis. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.