Whale Fart Captured in Photo

BoredShirtless · Post by **BoredShirtless** » 2003-09-01 06:18am

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20 ... legas.html

Whale Flatulence Captured in Photo
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

A Whale's Gas Bubble And Fecal Plume

Aug. 27, 2003 — For the first time, scientists have both witnessed and photographed a whale gas bubble, suggesting that flatulence is just as common for ocean mammals as it is for humans and many other terrestrial animals.

The picture is best described by Nick Gales, principal research scientist in the Applied Marine Mammal Ecology Group of the Australian Antarctic Division in Tasmania. Gales was leading an expedition of the Charolotte Pass between Marguerite Bay and Palmer Station, Antarctica, when the ship's captain, Joe Borkowski III, took the photo.

"The picture is of an Antarctic minke whale taken from the bow of a ship," Gales explained. "The white bits in the photo are pieces of ice-floe, the stream of pinky color behind the whale is a fecal plume — a.k.a. "poo" — the large circle in the water is indeed the physical eruption of the whale's flatulence."

The experience was memorable in many ways.

"The general rule that flatulence is worse than halitosis is certainly also true for whales," said Gales, who had to flee the bow of the ship shortly after the whale's natural release was observed, and smelled.

Gales and his colleagues are working to determine what it is that higher marine predators eat, and where they go to eat it. Instead of resorting to killing whales, the Australian Antarctic Division scientists have developed a method that allows them to collect whale feces and study its DNA to figure out what the whale recently consumed.

The DNA work is linked to whale protection, since countries such as Norway, Iceland, and Japan have argued that whale numbers should be reduced to stabilize commercial fishing stocks.

"Sadly, some countries are promoting very simple interpretations of the way whale food consumption interacts with fishery yields, effectively arguing that if the whales did not eat those fish, then fishery yields would improve," Gales told Discovery News. "In reality, marine food webs are extremely complex and the relationship between what one of many predators eat, in this case whales, and a fishery yield is distant and may not even be direct."

He explained that whales also consume predators of many commercial species, and that other issues, including when and where whales eat, and what age class of a commercial species is affected by whales, complicate the debate.

Daniel Costa, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in the Long Marine Laboratory of the University of California, Santa Cruz, agrees that whale numbers should not be further reduced by humans, their sole predator.

"The available data for whales suggests that their populations are well below the carrying capacity of the environment and thus there is no danger of them overeating their prey," said Costa.

Costa added, "The fate of whales is intimately associated with the fate of its prey."

He explained that whales' major prey, krill, a type of crustacean, is being reduced by climate change, which could cause problems for whales and many other Antarctic species that rely upon krill as a food source.

Gales, Costa, and several other scientists next month will study and tag Pacific whales and other pelagic animals in coordinated efforts to monitor individual species and to better understand the ocean food chain.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-09-01 06:21am

Does this deserve a response?

BoredShirtless · Post by **BoredShirtless** » 2003-09-01 06:22am

Just sit back and have a little chuckle

Grand Moff Yenchin · Post by **Grand Moff Yenchin** » 2003-09-01 06:23am

A very educational article wrote:The experience was memorable in many ways.

.........speechless..........

Edit: Actually I could use this as a new swear word.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-09-01 10:23am

BoredShirtless wrote:Just sit back and have a little chuckle

Oh, I did.

That's one hell of a strange story anyway....

Southpaw · Post by **Southpaw** » 2003-09-01 11:07am

Well, I'm laughing really hard!

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2003-09-01 12:40pm

*Austin Powers double-blink*

Okay....

Tosho · Post by **Tosho** » 2003-09-01 12:50pm

Demiurge · Post by **Demiurge** » 2003-09-01 12:58pm

*Jon Stewart double take*

*rubs eyes*

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-09-01 01:13pm

and in a related story, the crew of the Halifax based fishing vessel 'Lucky Toot' was killed thursday after the ship's first mate tossed a lit cigarette off of the ships bow igniting what marine biologists have described as 'one hell of a whale fart'. more details soon.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-09-01 01:39pm

No the rubs eyes in the response when we get the first report of a Japanese ship interrupting whale mating, followed by the male rolling over and clearing the harpoon crew with 500 galleons of whale spooge....

My god the Whales Bukkake!

SAMAS · Post by **SAMAS** » 2003-09-01 03:36pm

[quote="BoredShirtless]

Whale Flatulence Captured in Photo
"The general rule that flatulence is worse than halitosis is certainly also true for whales," said Gales, who had to flee the bow of the ship shortly after the whale's natural release was observed, and smelled.

[/quote]

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2003-09-01 04:42pm

Well, that's an interesting fact know.

The Yosemite Bear wrote:No the rubs eyes in the response when we get the first report of a Japanese ship interrupting whale mating, followed by the male rolling over and clearing the harpoon crew with 500 galleons of whale spooge....

My god the Whales Bukkake!

*snorts*

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-09-01 04:58pm

The Yosemite Bear wrote:No the rubs eyes in the response when we get the first report of a Japanese ship interrupting whale mating, followed by the male rolling over and clearing the harpoon crew with 500 galleons of whale spooge....

My god the Whales Bukkake!

That is so disgusting it isn't funny...why didn't that whale use a rubber?

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-09-02 11:03pm

Ah. Yet more great research from Tasmania...

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2003-09-03 02:42am

That's great. Made my night. I will have beautiful dreams.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-09-03 04:09am

Article and Yosemite Bear's post:

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-09-03 04:14am

Darth Gojira · Post by **Darth Gojira** » 2003-09-03 07:41am

*Eyes bug out* Only a matter of time, I suppose.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2003-09-03 05:29pm

How come I didn't see this at Sea World? That would have taught people not to sit in the front rows!

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2003-09-03 08:45pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:and in a related story, the crew of the Halifax based fishing vessel 'Lucky Toot' was killed thursday after the ship's first mate tossed a lit cigarette off of the ships bow igniting what marine biologists have described as 'one hell of a whale fart'. more details soon.

ROFL

Damaramu · Post by **Damaramu** » 2003-09-03 08:50pm

The Cleric · Post by **The Cleric** » 2003-09-03 09:28pm

amen brother

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2003-09-03 11:37pm

You can TRULY do anything with photoshop...

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-09-04 01:44am

Chardok wrote:You can TRULY do anything with photoshop...

That program is just insanely powerful, I must really learn how to use it...

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Whale Fart Captured in Photo

Whale Fart Captured in Photo

Re: Whale Fart Captured in Photo

Re: Whale Fart Captured in Photo