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PastelFlamingo150 t1_jabrh47 wrote

Reply to comment by TheRealSmallBean in ELI5: Why is it that when fertilizers make their way into waterways, all the oxygen disappears, killing the fish? by Psychological-Dog994

Are there animals that eat the algae rather than let bacteria decompose it? Is there a way to reinforce a food chain with the algae at the bottom such that it replenishes fish stocks or whale populations?

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pdpi t1_jabz6p9 wrote

“Can we solve the problem with one invasive species by adding another invasive species?” Is well-documented as a disastrous strategy

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gl00mybear t1_jacv0mz wrote

Specifically in this case, why the Illinois river is infested with carp.

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GeorgeCauldron7 t1_jacw5i8 wrote

Don't worry, when winter rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

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PastelFlamingo150 t1_jac0fox wrote

That's not at all what I'm talking about. I'm talking about using the wasted nutrition to rebuild oceanic food chains from the bottom up while simultaneously pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere.

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Kaisermeister t1_jac3dbk wrote

You are directionally thinking of a geoengineering method called ocean fertilization. Using iron in the middle of the ocean where plankton normally couldn’t grow to stimulate blooms.

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PastelFlamingo150 t1_jac5ut1 wrote

That sounds very expensive compared to utilizing free fertilizer runoff.

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Kaisermeister t1_jac6us1 wrote

Fertilizer is much more expensive to produce than iron which is cheap and plentiful. Using runoff would be much more expensive (extremely so) as they would have to build millions of miles of piping and collection systems, evaporate it out, and transport it into the middle of the ocean.

And in the end, the effects would be minimal, since the nutrient the phytoplankton are limited by is usually iron.

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PastelFlamingo150 t1_jacd7ua wrote

What about setting up at the mouth of the rivers? I imagine the operation would be easier if it was operating in New Orleans rather than Midway.

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madbird406 t1_jacqiur wrote

Eutrophication already occurs at these places, because of, again, overabundance of fertilizer runoff and plankton growth. They often create "dead zones" that cause marine life to suffocate when they pass through.

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PastelFlamingo150 t1_jacsey2 wrote

Right. I'm asking if there is a way to avoid the dead zones by having something further up the food chain eat the algae before the bacteria rots them. Someone had suggested filter feeding shell fish.

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TheRealSmallBean t1_jacrwg5 wrote

I’m not sure if there is some animal that can “fix” it, but I know one of the biggest problems is that the lack of oxygen kills fish. If there’s an abundance of food, the fish will reproduce at rates that the oxygen in the water can’t support. It’s a good idea though!

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