Hot Poets - Matt Harvey, Praise the Whale
Science: Year 4
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4m 36s
Hot Poet: Matt Harvey
Matched with: Whale and Dolphin Conservation
Poem Focus: The Green Whale and Whale Poo Whale
Dolphin Conservation (WDC) campaigns to save whales and dolphins. Whales play a big part in helping to keep the ocean healthy and are our allies in the fight to reverse climate breakdown. How? A lot of it is to do with poo! Their poo contains key nutrients for phytoplankton, tiny plants that absorb up to a third of the carbon dioxide we produce. Think rainforest, but in the ocean. The ocean (including phytoplankton) produces half the oxygen we breathe (every other breath). Whales dive down, eat, then surface, which helps circulate nutrients to phytoplankton. At the surface, their poo provides key nutrients for phytoplankton. So it is a circular process. Secondly, whales spend their lives absorbing carbon within their bodies. When they die, they sink, taking the tonnes of carbon in their bodies to the bottom of the sea, where it can be locked away for thousands of years.
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