What gives the ocean its distinct, sometimes pungent smell? It turns out the answer is more than just dead fish or salt: it’s the scent of tons of phytoplankton being munched on!
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Sources:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC134419/
www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00637/full
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18434-4
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1617201/
jeb.biologists.org/content/jexbio/209/11/2165.full.pdf
www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/10285497/stefels.PDF
www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/dms--the-climate-gas-youve-never-heard-of/
blogs.scientificamerican.com/culturing-science/how-one-little-molecule-influences-earthe28099s-climate/
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S016578360600395X
www.nature.com/news/rising-ocean-acidity-will-exacerbate-global-warming-1.13602
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2001GB001829
www.nature.com/articles/326655a0
Image sources:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mixed_phytoplankton_community_2.png
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roseobacter_strain_HIMB11.jpg
www.istockphoto.com/photo/example-of-sulphur-gm1293391595-387814868
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13021
www.istockphoto.com/photo/the-flying-laysan-albatross-phoebastria-immutabilis-is-a-large-seabird-that-ranges-gm1255950130-367583890
www.istockphoto.com/photo/seal-gm177122214-16688740
www.istockphoto.com/photo/whale-shark-coming-to-you-underwater-close-up-portrait-gm607632870-104167021
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mixed_phytoplankton_community.png
www.istockphoto.com/photo/green-sea-water-algae-colors-the-waves-gm1284907939-381903810
Why Does the Ocean Smell Like That?
1 400 Shikime 142 mijë
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Nope!
I only know the oceans around North America, but in my experience the sea everywhere has a distinct smell, not at all strong but identifiable, which is not sulfurous, and not like rotten eggs. I have smelled sulfurous smells in some places at some times - but the underlying smell of the sea is always there too. It would be very odd if the sea smelled of only one chemical compound. It's an interesting video, but I suspect that it is misleading because it's been oversimplified.
Fish fart.
You mean "why does the Ocean from LA smell like that". A non-polluted ocean smells crisp and clean.
The host is Rose Bear Don't Walk, and graphics is Madeline Go. It's like traffic court in here.
I spent my graduate career studying the enzymatic breakdown of DMSP to DMS. I quite literally grew to love the smell of DMS because it meant reactions were working. Years of smelling it and studying this process left me with mixed feelings regarding sulfur compounds
Idk why the ocean smells like salt....... It could be that salt water
Who else can now say dimethylsulfoniopropionate with confidence?
Ocean smells like pee
🥰
The ocean stinks.
I love your show! Just a minor correction. Daphnia is a freshwater predator :) The main predators in the ocean are copepods (the most abundant metazoan organism on earth!) Thanks again for the awesome content!
Where I'm from the ocean has a distinct smell....... sunscreen.
How come Rose didn't pronounce the first acronym........hehehe! !!!!
The arctic ocean didn't smell like eggs to me. Neither did the pacific.
I love the way her face looks she's beautiful
shes pretty
What causes the marina funk smell?
Nothing compares to the smell of the Great Salt Lake. It can be very strong at times. Oy!
eggy smell? i feel bad for you, sea over here smells like salt and seaweed and i love it, it smells so fresh.
Sorry to do this but you got a couple of things fundamentally wrong in this video: DMS isn’t a gas, it’s a liquid with a boiling point of 37°c. Also it doesn’t smell of rotting eggs, it smells vegetal like green beans and cabbage. As a brewer I’m pretty familiar with the odour and I have to say it isn’t much like the smell of the sea. Maybe it’s a component in that typical marine smell but not the main one by any means.
Underwater the fish don’t stink
So it’s basically sea fart.
They have a new host!
the great below -nin
I understand an "eggy smell" as being attributed to sulfur and I definitely do not think that the ocean, or the sea for that matter, smells like rotten eggs 😅 Rotten seaweed yeah, definitely, but that is a more unique smell.
The smell that you smell when approaching the ocean is the smell of the coastline not the ocean. In the late 1960s I worked on shrimp out of Tampa Florida for a little over 1.5 years. When approaching the the coast from where I lived I could smell the coastline. After working for 1 to 3 weeks out in the Gulf of Mexico when you get near the coastline you could smell the same smell. The smell of the open ocean is a clean fresh smell, I noticed the same thing when going from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Jacksonville, Fla. by ship.
Baltic fishes stinks _more_
It's not as bad as my dogs farts
I am a seaman.. more than half the time, when we're at anchor, if the air smells fishy (a very strong one), there are sharks swimming around our ship..
Ocean smells like fish. And that reminded me of the smell of my girlfriend
Then the human's showed up. The end.
why does she smell like that.....
Wtf? Ive lived in CA my whole life and go to school in Santa Cruz I have never noticed the ocean smelling bad, “eggy,” am I trippin?
Chuhg
It’s been 14 years since I been to the beach and I don’t miss the smell 😅
She seems eagy
This finally explains why rainstorms coming out of the north have a crisper, more clean smell than tropical depressions coming up from the southeast; something I have wondered since I was 6 and never got an answer to.
That and ozone of course, but even without much lightning.
A detailed explanation as to why the ocean smells like bum...
ffs... She lo.oks like she smells like the ocean. (jus-sayin) 🐿😝
LOL you have reminded me of one of my favorite poems by Ogden Nash, "Seaside Serenade": "It begins when you smell a funny smell, And it isn’t vanilla or caramel, And it isn’t forget-me-nots or lilies, Or new-mown hay, or daffy-down-dillies, And it’s not what the barber rubs on Father, And it’s awful, and yet you like it rather. No, it’s not what the barber rubs on Daddy, It’s more like an elderly finnan haddie, Or, shall we say, an electric fan Blowing over a sardine can. It smells of seaweed, it smells of clams, It’s as fishy as ready-made telegrams, It’s as fishy as millions of fishy fishes, In spite of which you find it delishes, You could do with a second helping, please, And that, my dears, is the ocean breeze... "
Climate change and science deniers should be sentenced to watch this video a hundred times. (Unfortunately I doubt it will help them to understand the complexity of nature.)
More of this new host, please! Very personable and obviously loves the subject.
Eggy? What eggs are you eating??
Dimethyl sulfide is actually liquid, but it is quite volatile.
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The ocean is the biggest toilet on earth, that's why.
Pee, human and animals, Poop, humans and animals Yes humans are animals, you know what I mean, as you were
My favorite smell explained
Is it just me or are these videos getting worse? Did they run out of material?
So it's microbe poop
Nah, it's cause the sea is a soup.
I thought it smelled like a salty lake.
Never has the ocean smelled like eggs to me. This is so weird.
I've only seen the Ocean once and that was when I was in Newfoundland. It only smelled salty and not very fishy or eggy.
“The smell of the sea is unforgettable.” I’ve got the dementia. I forget most things. 😭 (As an aside, you’re doing great, Rose! Your progress as a host since your first video on this channel has been phenomenal! Best of luck!)
Has Scishow done an episode on man made clouds?
I feel silly but even though I live on the coast I've never thought about how the sea might smell differently in different areas before!
"Have you ever tried DMSP? It's super amazing. It protects you from UV Radiation, balances the water content in your cells, and can deter predators from eating you. You gotta try a supplement man." - Next time on the Joe Rogan and Dr. Rhonda Patrick Show.
Golly, I love this new speaker. It's like SciShow became great again. She seems as interested in the content she's presenting as I am hearing it. That delivery is just ever-so-perfect. I love it.
its because of fish farts you idiots
Me when I went into the women’s bathroom one time: Spongebob me boy! I smell a smell, a kind of smelly smell, the kind of smell that smells... smelly. Arg arg arg
Because of all the fish poo 😊
I have a tortoise and he yawn when he wakes up like me, does that mean yawning is a shared trait from our common ancestor and if so how far back does yawning go, why is opening your mouth really wide after a snooze so important?
Not sure why but she bores me with how she talks.
Q: Why does the ocean smell? A: Because the seaweed. (I'll be here all week, try the veal)
If you've ever had a saltwater tank with live rock, it smells exactly the same as the ocean
I don't know about you, but I've always experienced the sea as smelling like saltwater
So you mean to tell me my Atlantic Mist cologne just has me smelling like rotten eggs?
Cos it's full of fish pee.
i made a hypothesis before watching and i was Right! Im so proud of myself uwu
San Fransico is awful. It smells like trash salt and ass.
Like what?
It’s amazing how such a small creature has such an impact.
EGGY??? wtf
It just smells like salt and seaweed to me. I've never smelt an eggy smell or anything bad from it...
Concept: contained algal blooms as a method of carbon capture.
Smell of the ocean is actually very refreshing.
I wonder if the Pacific ocean smells different than the Atlantic ocean.
Not to mention but the ocean is also the world’s largest toilet!!! Whales poop too
It smells like my exs bathwater
I bet it's all the fish pee
You failed to mention the problem with dams on rivers. They prevent sediments from reaching the ocean. The sediments would normally neutralize carbonic acid, keeping the Ph of the oceans more stable. Humans have disrupted the cycle that helps regulate ocean acidity.
i'm so confused. the ocean smells wonderful to me. it just smells salty and fresh. i've never felt like it smelled like sulfur.
Did they hire her away from Real Science channel? I know that I've heard her voice before...
Fish Pee
THANK. YOU
This video is one second too long
1:20 Would be cooler if it was DMT
But I like the smell of the ocean it's really relaxing
Smell salt 🤷🏻♀️
There is nothing more relaxing than the fresh air in the morning plus the smell of the sea (while watching the sunrise and the waves) Like omg!
Shut the door
Sailors: Don't drink water. Me: Why. Woman: *This video*.
I love the ocean smell. I associate it with the seaweed. In fact whenever I use seaweed in my cooking, I am taken back to the ocean with it's smell
I've been on the ocean a lot but never encountered a sulfurous small. I'm puzzled.
Here on the stunning Whitsunday coast we are gifted with coral spawning season, a vital part of a healthy coral reef but yea, green water and high tide marks and eggy would be a dream in comparison to sun baked protein shake
0:30 had us busting a gut! So good!
Never smelt the ocean, so... That is a vivid description.
I've NEVER smelled an ocean, only Lake Michigan in Chicago. Do oceans smell different from the great lakes?