Honolulu, United States - March 13, 2025 A stunning sight has emerged from the deep: a humpback whale urinating underwater, releasing vast streams of nutrient-rich pee that travel thousands of miles. Whales are not just big, they’re a big deal for healthy oceans. New research shows that humpbacks move tons of nutrients—like nitrogen—in their urine, from feeding grounds in Alaska to tropical waters near Hawaii, boosting ecosystems and fish. In a University of Vermont-led study, scientists spotlight this underwater spectacle, calculating that great whales, including humpbacks, transport about 4000 tons of nitrogen yearly to low-nutrient coastal zones. One study in Iceland found fin whales unleash over 250 gallons of urine daily—humpbacks likely aren’t far behind. “The movement of nitrogen can be important to phytoplankton growth, providing food for sharks and fish,” says biologist Joe Roman, who co-led the research, published March 10 in Nature Communications. Filmed in places like the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, humpbacks pee out nutrients that double what local currents deliver. “We call it the ‘great whale conveyor belt,’” Roman says, as whales funnel pee from vast feeding areas into confined breeding zones. After gorging on krill in Alaska, gaining 30 pounds daily, they migrate thousands of miles, burning fat and releasing pee packed with urea along the way. Before whaling, this underwater flow was even bigger. “Because of their size, whales do things no other animal does,” says co-author Andrew Pershing from Climate Central. The sight of a humpback’s pee plume underwater proves it—they’re living giants reshaping oceans one stream at a time.