# Plankton as Hman Food-Has It Been Tried? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916 "2012-04-05T15:44:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916/21 "2012-04-06T03:31:05Z")
In New Zealand, whales eat [plinktonn](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVHZwI8pcA). ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916/22 "2012-04-06T13:34:36Z")
I’m imagining one’s plankton farm getting a blue whale infestation. They’re protected, so you’d have to use live traps. “Honey, it’s your turn to empty the traps.” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916/23 "2012-04-06T13:43:19Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > From the article: > > “[krill] must be peeled because their exoskeleton contains fluorides, which are toxic in high concentrations.” Interesting. How do wild animals that subsist exclusively on krill deal with the fluoride content? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916/24 "2012-04-06T14:09:41Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Interesting. How do wild animals that subsist exclusively on krill deal with the fluoride content? [Guess]They easily chew off the exoskeletons with their strong, excellently-maintained teeth?[/guess] ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916/25 "2012-04-06T14:15:28Z")
I’m planning to try eating plankton this year - a couple of years back, when I was fishing for Brown Shrimp, I was also catching huge clumps of tiny baby shrimps - each only 5mm long or so (picture in the side column on [this](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/brown_shrimp/) page). I’m going to return this year and catch them on purpose. I’ll be cooking them whole and mixing together with rice, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916/26 "2012-04-06T14:17:54Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > [Guess]They easily chew off the exoskeletons with their strong, excellently-maintained teeth?[/guess] 😃 If they had teeth, I suppose they wouldn’t need fluoride pills, and I know which side of the fluoridation argument they’d be on - but most whales are [filter feeders](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baleen) who eat their krill whole. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916/27 "2012-04-06T14:37:17Z")
If you really want to get to the bottom of the food chain you should be talking about algae not plankton. Algae have a vast number of uses and are very efficient at converting sunlight into food on a per acre basis. Also algae can use salt water, conserving our fresh water resources. Algae can also be used to provide feed for our animals and fish, thus reducing the agriculture lands used to feed animals instead of people. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algaculture](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algaculture) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plankton-as-hman-food-has-it-been-tried/617916.md?page=1)