Burghsluis

Harbor porpoise hotspot

Burghsluis is, next to the harbor head of Zierikzee, one of the best places in the Oosterschelde to see harbor porpoises. You can even spot harbor porpoises from the terrace of restaurant 't Oliegeultje. While you sit here enjoying the fresh salty sea air (and perhaps catching your breath from the bike ride), you are taking in oxygen. Many people think that all oxygen comes from plants, but did you know that half of all oxygen actually comes from the sea? And our friends the whales, and yes even that special little harbor porpoise, play an important role in this. And it all comes down to their poop…

Whale poop

We at the Rugvin Foundation are not only harbor porpoise researchers, but also Whale Poo Ambassadors. And for good reason, because as strange as it sounds, whale poop is important for all of us. Whale poop is essential for phytoplankton (plant plankton) to grow. Phytoplankton consists of millions of tiny algae and seaweeds. It forms the basis for the food chains in our oceans. Zooplankton, the animal plankton, eats the phytoplankton. Zooplankton is eaten by small fish or baleen whales like humpbacks. Small fish are eaten by larger fish. And these fish are eaten by toothed whales like sperm whales. The poop from baleen and toothed whales again feeds the phytoplankton. And thus the circle is complete.

Besides being the basis of the food chain in the ocean, the oceanic forest has properties similar to a real rainforest. Specifically, it absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. In fact, 50% of all oxygen on Earth comes from the oceans. And 40% of all carbon dioxide on Earth is absorbed by phytoplankton, which is 4 times as much as the Amazon rainforest! And all this is made possible by our pooping cetaceans. The poop has the property of floating and serves as food for the phytoplankton. Moreover, whales travel long distances, which increases the area where phytoplankton can grow. But this is just a brief summary of what our heroes do, you can read more information about these ecological engineers here. Whales ensure that our Earth cools down and that we have enough oxygen to breathe.

And our Zeeland whale?

In recent years, the Rugvin Foundation has conducted research for the first time on the effect of harbor porpoise poop on phytoplankton. And what turned out? Harbor porpoises also play an important role in the growth of phytoplankton and thus the CO₂ absorption of the sea! And that’s great news because there are about 350,000 harbor porpoises swimming in the North Sea! If you’re curious about how this research went, you can check out this vlog.

From here, it is possible to continue along the planned route. You will pass Plan Tureluur, but this is also along a road. If you prefer to bike longer along the water, we recommend retracing the same route.

Stichting Rugvin