Climate change is a hot topic right now (pun intended!).  With that comes the discussion about carbon emissions, how we can lower them and needing to better understand the carbon cycle.  Earth is the biggest recycler there is, nutrients are constantly recycled, reformed and moved around the ecosytem and even the planet!  So keeping track of where the carbon is going, staying (removing carbon from the atmosphere and helping to mitigate climate change) or getting back into the atmosphere (and thus affecting the warming of the planet) is important in our efforts to slow down the rate of climate change.  Enter marine vertebrates (small to large, fish to whales).  These animals, through their bodily functions and behavior have direct and indirect effects on the movement of carbon.  However, little research has focused on this, and their ultimate (and complicated) effects are unknown. This paper reviews the available knowledge and why it is so important to better understand these interactions.  Leveraging naturally occurring carbon interactions for mitigating climate change can be a productive strategy with lower cost and risk than other geoengineering solutions.  Join us as we discuss the paper, and how cetaceans, pinnipeds, fish and other marine vertebrates can help us combat climate change, if we just protect their populations and environment. Paper freely available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590332221002384 Help us continue to provide content like this by donating: https://pacmam.org/wp/donate/ We also have merchandise: https://pacmam.org/wp/shop/ — This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pacific-mammal-research/support