WEBVTT - Urine The News 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.479 Welcome to Creature future production of iHeartRadio. I'm your hosts 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:15.240 of Many Parasites Katie Golden. I studied psychology and evolutionary biology, 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:20.280 and today on the show Urine for a great show, guys, 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:24.279 because we're talking about all the wee wee that's fit 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:30.280 to piss. So we are talking about animal pe studies, 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:35.840 about animal urine, the amazing facts about We've got three 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:42.680 we wei stars here, animals whose urine is either fascinating, 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:48.040 super important to the environment, or just weird, just very 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:50.879 strange pe if we are gonna go from one of 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.800 the largest actually, no not one of the largest, the 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:58.400 largest mammal in the world to a strange, fuzzy little 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:02.320 grimlin that you've probably I've never heard of. Joining me 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:07.600 today is my personal friend and co host of Secretly 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:12.279 incredibly Fascinating with none other than wah, which is perfect 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:17.600 grammatic French. Everyone, I'm so happy to have Alex Schmidt 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:18.600 joining me today. 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:23.480 Alex, hi d thank you for having me. This is 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.360 so great, and especially I feel like most schools and 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.399 biology class or whatever they they're probably teachers who cannot 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.840 tell you about animal p right. There's probably districts or 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.560 parents groups or something where they shut it off, cut 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:37.920 it down. 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:43.880 My arch nemesis, the PTA, always trying to stop. 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:47.840 The Pta, the PTA ironically. 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:52.680 Oh the irony. Yeah, so animal p is actually very interesting. 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:54.960 And on this show we do like to discuss the 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.480 sorts of topics that might seem a little bit too risque, 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:02.480 too in a pro to be taught in biology class. 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:04.680 And this is one of them. 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:06.720 I all be we all bee. 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:09.880 Everyone does it. It's not weird. And if you don't 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.440 do it, you should go to a doctor a urologist 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:16.919 because you need to do it. It's very important. You 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:21.040 should be proud of yourself every time you pee because 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:25.560 that's that's okay, that's biology, baby, and you did it. 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:31.720 So Alex, we just got you know what we got 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:34.760 like to in this life. There's so little we control, 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:36.880 and one of the things we can control is going 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.840 to the bathroom. And I think that's a sacred human right, Alex. 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.440 We also do like a little side project on so 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:48.360 our our show Secretly Incredibly Fascinating is on the network 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:51.680 Maximum Fun and we actually just we just did a drive. 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:53.799 We just did a drive for new members. So if 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:56.560 any of you are listening to that, you also subscribed 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:01.000 over there. Thank you for that, and that we have 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:05.639 been funded for a show that we do called uh 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:09.280 the Inspectors Inspectors, but I like to call it us 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:15.760 PISS because it's US Postal Inspection Service, which spells US piss. Uh. 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:18.280 Yes, yes, it's not our fault. 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:23.239 Yeah, but now we're talking about they piss because it's 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:29.080 animals whose pe is really interesting? And I did this 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.440 whole topic not because I'm a freak, but because I 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:35.960 read some news about a new study on whale p 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:42.920 none other than the majestic Blean whale. Uh So whale p. 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:49.680 There is a lot of it, so that's one thing. Yeah, 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.400 and it turns yeah, makes sense, right, there's there's a 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:53.160 ton of whale pea. 0:03:54.840 --> 0:04:00.240 Yeah, I can't. I'm very excited to hear how this 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:03.800 is measured, like how they measure the p from the whale. 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.560 You know, maybe they're estimating, maybe there's a big cath 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:06.840 in her. 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:12.840 I believe it's estimates. I do not think that there's like, oh, 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.240 I don't think they cat up the whales. No, there's 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.960 not really a great way to study whales. I think 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:23.160 it is based on the knowledge of like the size 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:29.360 of say whale bladders and their capacity and the calculated 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.800 rate metage of urination. So that's that's how they because yeah, 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.359 whales are Actually it's funny because they're the world's largest mammals, 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:40.800 so you'd think we'd know everything about them. They're actually 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:44.440 very difficult to study because they're deep in the water 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.279 and it's hard to get there, and they're so big. 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:50.839 It's not like we can take a whale carcass to 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:56.600 your nearest lab and study the entire thing. Like, yes, 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.200 like parts of whales are studied, of course, but it 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:02.760 is it's very difficult to study them, but we do, 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:05.720 and and this is one of them, a new study 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:10.520 called Migrating Baling Whales Transport high latitude nutrients to tropical 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:16.480 and subtropical ecosystems by University of Vermont conservation biologists Joe Roman. 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:21.320 At all. Basically, this is a paper Roman. Joe Roman 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:27.480 sounds a little bit like Joe Rogan. I know, Joe 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:32.000 Rogan wishes he was at the intellectual level of studying. 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:34.720 Whale p you know, so uh really. 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.400 Yeah, yeah, yeah, so uh this is a study on 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:37.920 whale pp. 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:38.599 Uh. 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:40.920 For the most part, they just I guess we're too 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:44.960 embarrassed to put that in the title. So we're talking 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:49.080 mostly about large baling whales. Other whales, toothed whales like 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:51.800 orc as, they certainly contribute, but it is really the 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.719 big boys, the blue whales, the humpback whales. Uh, these 0:05:55.760 --> 0:06:00.719 are huge players in the nitrogen cycle in the ocean 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.120 because peepy urea has a lot of nitrogen in it. 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.920 Okay, Yeah, and I don't and I don't know a 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.680 lot about the nitrogen cycle, but I think also especially 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.400 most dryings I've seen of it, it's on land, like 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:16.880 the sky and the earth are doing it, you know, 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:18.760 So it's cool to think about it in the sea. 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.520 Yeah, and it's it's something that we may not know 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.560 as much about because it's in the ocean and it's 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.240 maybe harder to measure. But yeah, absolutely, nitrogen plays a 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.120 huge role in the same way that it plays a 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:33.919 role in our soil right for growing plants. Nitrogen in 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:38.480 the ocean supports a lot of life like algae, phytoplankton. 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:43.760 It is important in terms of depositing nutrients to create 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:49.240 a fertilizer for the foundation of the food chain, super important. So, 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:55.400 and the way the specific way that baling whales contribute 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:59.040 to this is not just by eating and peeing, it's 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:04.880 by eating and peeing in a very specific migratory pattern. 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:11.840 So uh, they end up moving nitrogen from icy cold 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.680 polar regions, very very cold regions. And it's interesting because 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:18.040 in these polar regions, actually the ocean is a lot 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:22.440 more nutrient dense. You have things like you have things 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:24.200 like a lot of krill. You have a lot of 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.400 things for the whales to eat. Balen whales or filter feeders. 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.240 They're the ones that have those things that look like 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:34.960 broom bristles in their mouths. So they're not they're not 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:40.760 really going after like say tuna or fish. They're going 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.720 after krill. Santa ah man. You know if Santa's look 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:49.080 really tiny or his little his little elves, maybe they'd 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:49.960 get caught in there. 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:53.400 But yeah, they go after like every piece of art 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.520 of Santa. They have to include a scale drive where 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:58.760 like there's that stensil of a human to show you 0:07:58.880 --> 0:07:59.520 he's also. 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.520 Very comes down the chimney. No one's ever said how 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:08.240 big Santa is. Maybe he's planktonic. Explain it and why 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.840 we can't see him. They eat krill, which are these 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:17.600 small shrimp like animals and UH, and they eat massive 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:19.600 amounts of them, so they actually find more of them 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:23.960 in these colder regions. And so what happens is they 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:27.960 feed in these polar cold regions and then to mate 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.960 and to breed, they actually move to warmer tropical regions. 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.640 And these warmer regions it has plenty of life, but 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:40.199 it's less nutrient dense than the polar regions. And so 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.440 they actually live off of a lot of their blubber 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:48.240 when they're in these uh, these more tropical regions. And 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.560 as they're burning that blubber, they're using the energy stores 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.040 and all that nutrition they gathered when they're in the 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.720 polar regions and they're burning it off and they're producing 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:03.160 a byproduct PE and so and that PEE is the 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:07.440 byproduct u urea, which is loaded with nitrogen, and that 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:12.960 urea helps to fertilize these tropical areas. So they're moving nutrients, 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:18.200 UH and fertilizer from these polar regions into the tropical regions. 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:23.160 And in what the long haul truckers, they are like 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.880 long haul truckers, especially for P for P which I'm 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:30.440 sure long haul truckers also appreciate the idea of just 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.040 peeing where you are. Uh, I know they've got jugs, 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:37.280 you know, depositing it on the side of the road. 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:42.880 Fertilized plant get empty. Yeah, it's it seems like I'm sure. 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.160 I'm sure. That's like day one of being a trucker. 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:46.760 You fall into some kind of routine. 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:49.480 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you gotta have your you have 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:50.200 your piss jug. 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.920 They don't just use the diner with the sign that 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:54.600 says eat at and ame of diner. 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:58.280 I mean, it's uh, it's gotta be tough, man, it's 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:02.240 gotta be I I have I have pea anxieties, so man, 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:03.240 I would. 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:05.120 Hello. 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.160 I'd like to be a whale though, because no one 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:14.440 would know except for the giant, except for the enormous 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:20.520 warm spot. A single whale can actually pee out two 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:25.040 hundred and fifty gallons of pee a day. That is 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:30.960 daily amounts. It's a lot of Wow, it's a lot. 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:36.839 It's quite a bit. And so through their urine, their 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:42.840 placentas and carcasses, whales release around three thousand, seven hundred 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:48.760 and eighty tons of nitrogen into lower nutrient areas. So 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:53.240 that's that's an incredible transfer of nutrients to these areas 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.480 that need them. So it helps support these warmer areas, 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:02.679 help support like you know, coral reefs, all the animals there, plankton, phytoplankton. 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:10.200 It's a fantastic, a fantastic sort of boost to these ecosystems. 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.000 Yeah, and then I have and I'm still hung up 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:15.040 on just the idea too, that the colder parts of 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.400 the ocean are denser in life. Like if you'd forced 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.040 me to guess, I would have said the opposite. I 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.720 would have imagined, like the ocean of the Equator is 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.079 like a tropical rainforest. The ocean. You know, yeah, I 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:26.600 guess it's. 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.360 Yeah, it is very interesting because it's like you have 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:33.760 these kind of like one thing that is true is 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.400 that when you get very very deep in the ocean, 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:41.280 then some nutrients, like the nutrient gradient is kind of 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.160 more spread out. But then you have like these these 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:49.360 hot spots of nutrients near thermal vents. But in colder waters, 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:54.720 you actually do have a high density of things like krill. 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.760 You have like a lot of tuna, you have a 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:02.400 lot of these these sort of large groups of schooling fish, 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.599 like a bunch of biomass. Part of that is the 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:11.120 light cycle in these areas. So like even though it's colder, right, 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.000 and you'd think like, oh, well then that would mean 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:16.440 there's fewer animals there, you still have like a lot 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.400 of energy that is contained within these waters. 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:20.440 Cool. Wow. 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:21.120 Yeah, yeah. 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:23.480 I always like to find out that we have so 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.320 many mental pictures of habitats where we think nothing lives there, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.080 you know, like a sahara or just a black of 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.079 ice with one polar bear standing on it. But no, 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:32.320 it's full of life. It's great. 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.360 Yeah, I mean it is, it is. It is true 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.000 that like polar bears do sometimes have a tough run 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:40.960 of it because they're actually like on the land, so 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:45.280 polar regions, like when you're on the land itself, because 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:49.840 that is not very conducive to the growth of vegetation 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:54.199 on the terrain. Yes, actually it's pretty tough. That's why 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:56.760 things like penguins they go in the water to fish 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:58.760 because there's not a lot of stuff like in the 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:03.160 Arctic on or sorry, in the Antarctic for them to 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:07.080 feed on on the land or in the Arctic. Certainly 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:08.840 there's parts of the Arctic where a lot of animals 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:11.520 like seals and polar bears will need to like go 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:13.720 in the water, and then polar bears of course will 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.400 go after the animals that are fishing in the water. 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.280 It is really cool. This is a little more kind 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:24.000 of like complicated science. But the way that the cold 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:29.520 waters work is it encourages some sea mixing that can 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:35.800 actually bring up nutrients that are sequestered in these like waters. 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.360 So you have the system that like you'd think of 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:42.040 course like that warm you know, it'd be easier for 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:44.120 life to exist in warm waters. But it's a very 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:50.959 kind of specific chemical thermodynamic process that churns up nutrients 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:55.120 in the water, allowing you know, the smallest forms of 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:59.200 life to thrive, and then you have this thriving food chain. 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:05.640 Wow. Amazing. Yeah, yeah, just never you just never think 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:07.680 about this stuff with the sea. It's all down there. 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:09.480 And plus I have a phobia of sea creature. So 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:10.880 I'm trying you do you do? 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:16.360 Whales are fine? Okay, Well, I figured I figured this 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:20.480 is I'm not intentionally trying to torment you on this episode, 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:22.840 So there's no jellyfish. 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:24.960 Yeah. Part of and part of my lore with my 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:28.160 silly phobia is that if I can imagine it as 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:31.680 a land animal, it's okay. Yeah, and whales. It's just 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.040 some kind of like packetrm or elephants or something. It's fine. 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.320 They used to be terrestrial animals. They used to be 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.480 sort of these little deer like animals, and then they're 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:42.680 just like, I'm tired of living on land. Man, too 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:46.480 many taxes, so then they lost all of their limbs 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.080 and wouldn't know. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:50.520 It is this complex the text cheets. 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:52.960 Yes, there's these. 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.920 Cons that they were like still too many taxes about. 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:03.440 Off real offshore for tax holdings. Yeah, have you. 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.560 Seen the tax bill in even the Cayman Islands? Forget it, 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.360 I've going down there about in the Cayman Oceans. 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:14.440 Yeah. The reason that whales migrate, right because like, well 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:17.080 why not just stay in these polar regions because there's 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.160 a lot of food there for them to eat, like krill, 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.200 is that it's actually easier for them to keep their 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:29.160 calves save and alive in these warmer waters. The calves 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:33.960 can't swim as well, it keeps them safe from larger predators, 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:38.400 and it also forced like it has they all kind 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:40.680 of go into these regions to be in sort of 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.680 a meet and greet area for mating. Because whale, really 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:48.760 large whales some smaller whales like dolphins, which is a 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:54.320 type of toothed whale actually, or orcas tend to be 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:58.080 in groups right, like a pot of way of dolphins, 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:01.040 but they're really big ones like blue why they're usually 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:05.800 actually relatively solitary and they communicate over really long distances. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:10.840 That's why the whales song where it's like ooh, it's 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:14.360 a method of communication over a very long distance. But 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.880 the mothers and the calves hang out quite a bit. 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:17.600 But otherwise you. 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:19.240 Don't have like very good whales song. By the way, 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:21.600 I can't just thing you. 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.160 But so when they go to these tropical waters, it 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:30.200 forces them into a more dense area and it makes 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.200 it easier for them to find a mate. We honestly 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.320 don't know that much about the largest whales and their 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:40.840 mating practices, like blue whales, because it's hard to see them, man, 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.560 they're in the water. You'd think that we would be 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.640 able to because they're so big, but it's just like 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.560 we don't. We can't just like hang out down there 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.160 in a submarine waiting around for whales to get it on. 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:55.640 So it's actually very rare that we observe it. And 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:57.920 actually the one time we did observe it. I think 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:01.080 in blue whales it was actually a two males, which 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:04.960 was hilarious that like, we've weighed around really long time 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:07.880 and then it just spits in the face of homophobes 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.720 who don't understand that a lot of animals are gay. 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:11.400 So I love it. 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.199 Maybe maybe it'll turn out that blue whales are just 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.280 these wild pan sexuals, you know, you. 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:19.560 Know, I wouldn't be wouldn't be surprised. 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.840 Yeah, like that that homosexual encounter was between many encounters 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:25.000 among the kinds of whales. 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.200 It really fits their vibe to be honest, that all 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.880 that all whales are pant sexuals proved me wrong. So yes, 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.399 so they they they move into these warmer waters for mating, 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:39.919 which also means they actually leave behind, uh placenta, and 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:44.719 that placenta also contains a bunch of nutrients, and that 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:49.439 also contributes to the this nitrogen cycle. It contributes to 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:53.800 the fertilization of these waters. They also each placenta waste, like, yeah, 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:54.960 weighs hundreds of pounds. 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:57.600 Concept has never crossed my mind in my whole life. 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:02.960 There they're mammals, placential male Yeah, of course they got one. 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:07.040 Yeah, it's like three pounds. It is nutrient bomb or whatever. 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:09.160 It's quite literally. 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:12.040 Is it's probably around that, you know, like it's hundreds 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:14.800 of depends depends on the species of whale, but yeah, 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:19.880 it's hundreds of pounds. So yeah, and this study, uh, 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:25.320 the study has shown that like whales are the main 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:29.920 distributor of nitrogen to tropical waters that the uh, which 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:33.679 is like extremely important for the whole the whole system. 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:34.200 And then. 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:42.920 Yes, the studies lead author told the University of Vermont newspaper, quote, 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.720 we call it the great whale conveyor belt, or it 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:48.640 can also be thought of as a funnel because whales 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.240 feed over large areas, but they need to be in 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.720 a relatively confined space to find a mate, breed and 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:58.560 give birth. And the University of Vermont newspaper titled the 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:02.120 article on this, uh the whale p funnel, the Great 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:06.600 Whale PA funnel. So that's that's fantastic. 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:10.040 Give that student their degree right now. They did it. 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:12.399 They have nothing more to learn at the University of Vermont. 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:17.600 Also also Ed Goodall, head of the Intergovernmental Engagement at 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:22.720 Whale and Dolphin Conservation, told the National Geographic National Geographics 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:26.720 Melissa Hobson quote, the ocean is spluttering along like an 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.879 old car with rusty parts that aren't functioning properly. So 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.879 you know, so basically we need we need. 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:37.560 This whale peepe What what they saidis fying just the 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.480 verb spluttering straight off of pee talk. I imagined like 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:42.720 a difficult stream that's set on. 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.840 Me drunk problem, A drunk whal. 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.399 The urologist and a psychologist. Why I reacted. 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.040 A drunk whale trying to aim for the ocean and 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:59.959 somehow missing and somehow missing its hits Greenland instead. 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:08.359 Right, Conservative American political officials scattering as this happens. 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:12.439 Yet, god ah man, I would love it if the 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:16.359 whales came to Greenland's defense just formed a great peak wall. 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:24.119 So this process of whales distributing nitrogen with their pee 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:28.280 used to be even more impressive. You know, we went 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:30.720 through this whole I think we've talked about this on secretly. 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:34.400 Incredibly fascinating for something I forgot which topic. But yeah, 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:38.439 there used to be obviously a huge whaling industry, like 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.560 around three million whales were killed in the twentieth century alone, 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.879 drove their populations down enormously. Yes, and so given what 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:49.240 we know about the nitrogen cycle. It's likely that this 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:55.080 huge reduction in whale populations and ergo whale pe means 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:59.359 that the density of life in the ocean is like 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:01.560 a fraction of what it used to be in terms 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:05.680 of like the because there needs to be this fertilization 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.440 process for say tropical waters to be rich in life. 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:13.119 So wow, right, it's a funny thing, right, Like whale 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:17.919 p turns out super super important, just incredibly important. So 0:21:17.960 --> 0:21:19.960 when you see like a study and it's like, oh, 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:24.320 why are we studying whale p? This is why absolutely 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.640 important to like all life in the ocean and therefore 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:28.160 on Earth. 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:33.320 Yeah. Yeah, and all those news stories too, whenever they're 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.360 like can you believe this topic is being studied, Like, yes, yes, 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:40.159 there's probably a reason. Yeah, why would professional scientists just 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.800 be goofing off but also working really hard you know 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:46.080 what I mean? Yeah, like they either study something important 0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:48.680 or go home and cook or go on vacation a yeah, 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:52.399 like they don't waste time and work super hard both. 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:55.960 Yeah, life life on Earth is like a giant Jenga tower, 0:21:56.080 --> 0:21:58.080 and like you might look at one piece and it's like, 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:00.680 whale P, how is this important? And you pull it 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:02.880 out and the whole thing just like comes crashing down. 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:05.919 It was all, yeah, it was all being held up 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:07.280 by whale p guys. 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:10.280 I also I also want to know how many people 0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:13.080 made some kind of little micro blog post, you know, 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:15.560 ex Blue sky its atter ibat, like can you believe 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:18.120 they're talking about whale p while that person was using 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:21.600 their phone on the toilet? I want another savage because 0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:23.280 up too well. 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:29.159 Or goshtern hypigrites. Yeah, yeah, so there we have it. 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:31.439 Folks who would even think about this flesh? 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:37.159 Yeah you know, yeah, yeah, well, you know, whale p 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:41.000 it's extraordinary, doing a lot more for the world than 0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:43.160 some politicians, am I right? 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:45.680 And I really didn't know how the ocean works. There's 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:50.040 so much transit of calories and resources and energy whatever 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:50.359 it is. 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:53.480 I really like how you I really like how you 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:58.320 describe them as pe long haul truckers that that's so apt. 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:03.159 Yeah. Yeah, They're body is the what's it called the 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:09.399 back of the truck where the stuff is. 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:12.520 The the trailer the tractor. I'm also imagining them wearing 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:16.760 the like mesh baseball hats with some like funny whale 0:23:16.800 --> 0:23:23.280 related pun like whale whale whale lookuta is and like 0:23:23.320 --> 0:23:25.439 they have like their fin has sort of the like 0:23:25.800 --> 0:23:28.320 a sexy lady whale, like it's a mudfla. 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:28.720 Yeah. 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:36.280 Oh, instead of BUCkies, it's buck peas. There you go, 0:23:36.680 --> 0:23:39.240 that would be the gear. Do you know BUCkies stops. 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:41.880 I guess that's certainly not in Italy, but it's only 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:42.840 a southern US thing. 0:23:43.240 --> 0:23:48.439 Okay, well, i'll, i'll. I'm sure people from that region 0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:50.200 are laughing at your show so. 0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:54.080 Hard at buck peas, they can't stand it. They applause 0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:56.360 the show to yeah. 0:23:56.400 --> 0:23:59.520 Yeah, they bust their guts right up at that joke. Alex. 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:04.000 Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. I'm gonna take a 0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:08.520 quick break, and when we get back is more urine science. 0:24:08.640 --> 0:24:14.720 Hooray whoop. All right, Alex, So I'm just gonna I'm 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:18.440 just gonna spit this right out. Chinese soft shelled turtles 0:24:18.560 --> 0:24:19.720 urinate through their mouths. 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:21.840