You’ve heard of the butterfly effect — the idea that a tiny flap of wings can trigger a hurricane on the other side of the world. Now, imagine a whale effect. Previous studies have found that whale poop helps fertilize the ocean,

Now we can add whale urine to that list, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Communications. “Lots of people think of plants as the lungs of the planet, taking in carbon dioxide, and expelling oxygen,

New research has shown that whales ferry substantial quantities of nutrients for thousands of miles in their urine and other bodily outputs.