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| "Nature" cover paper: the world's largest animal, baleen whale, "means" three times the previous estimate |
China News Service, Beijing, November 4 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The latest issue of the world-renowned academic journal "Nature" published an ecological research paper on the cover, saying that the appetite of the world's largest animal is beyond people's imagination.
Estimated three times
.
This study compares the number of whales caught before and after whaling began in the 20th century, and helps to further understand the significant changes brought about by the decline of whale populations to marine ecosystems
According to the paper, baleen whales include species such as humpback whales and blue whales, which are the largest animals that have ever lived on earth
.
They eat a very large number of prey, and can promote nutrient circulation by excreting undigested food
The corresponding author of the paper, Stanford University Matthew Savoca (Matthew Savoca) and his colleagues measured the feeding rate of 321 baleen whales in 7 species in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans.
These data are combined with acoustic measurements of prey density, species-specific feeding rate estimates, and the amount of prey consumed per ingestion to calculate the daily predatory behavior and prey intake of these whales
.
The results showed that in all the species and regions covered by the study, the number of prey eaten by baleen whales was three times the previous estimate, which is equivalent to the median daily prey intake of 5% to 30% of their body weight
.
For example, blue whales, fin whales, and humpback whales in California's ocean current ecosystem eat more than 2 million tons of krill each year
The author of the paper also pointed out that the larger whale populations before the 20th century may have increased ocean productivity by enhancing nutrient cycling
.
The latest research also shows that before whaling started, baleen whales in the Southern Ocean could circulate 12,000 tons of iron per year, but now they can only circulate 1,200 tons of iron
"If the restoration of whale populations is encouraged, the ecosystem functions lost in the 20th century are expected to be restored, and ocean productivity can also be improved
.
" The author of the paper concluded
