A short animation for International World Whale Day to explain the role that whales play in fighting climate change.
As whales travel across oceans they do gigantic poos. Their poo helps algae to grow. These tiny plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere capturing as much carbon as four Amazon rainforest. The algae is eaten by small animals like krill, and whales gobble up millions of krill each day. The carbon stays in whales’ bodies their whole lives and when they die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean locking the carbon away for centuries.
But hundreds of years of whaling dramatically reduced their numbers and they’re still facing multiple threats. From plastic pollution and dumped nets to industrial fishing.