Whalefall

Whale fall

A whale fall occurs when the carcass of a whale has fallen onto the ocean floor, typically at a depth greater than 1,000 m, putting them in the bathyal or abyssal zones. On the sea floor, these carcasses can create complex localized ecosystems that supply sustenance to deep-sea organisms for decades. In some circumstances, particularly in cases with lower water temperatures, they can be found at much shallower depths, with at least one natural instance recorded at 150 m and multiple experimental instances in the range of 30–382 m. Whale falls were first observed in the late 1970s with the development of deep-sea robotic exploration. Since then, several natural and experimental whale falls have been monitored through the use of observations from submersibles and remotely operated underwater vehicles in order to understand patterns of ecological succession on the deep seafloor. Deep sea whale falls are thought to be hotspots of adaptive radiation for specialized fauna.

Data Source : Wikipedia

• Related Topics:  Cetacean Stranding - Cetacean Stranding, Commonly Known As Beaching, Is A Phenomenon In Which Whales, Dolphins And Porpoises Strand Themselves On Land, Usually On A Beach. Beached Whales Often Die Due To Dehydration, Collapsing Under Their Own Weight, Or Drowning When High Tide Covers The Blowhole., Deep-Sea Community - A Deep-Sea Community Is Any Community Of Organisms Associated With A Shared Habitat In The Deep Sea. Deep Sea Communities Remain Largely Unexplored, Due To The Technological And Logistical Challenges And Expense Involved In Visiting This Remote Biome., Marine Snow - In The Deep Ocean, Marine Snow Is A Continuous Shower Of Mostly Organic Detritus Falling From The Upper Layers Of The Water Column. It Is A Significant Means Of Exporting Energy From The Light-Rich Photic Zone To The Aphotic Zone Below, Which Is Referred To As The Biological Pump., Detritivore - Detritivores Are Heterotrophs That Obtain Nutrients By Consuming Detritus. There Are Many Kinds Of Invertebrates, Vertebrates, And Plants That Eat Detritus Or Carry Out Coprophagy. By Doing So, All These Detritivores Contribute To Decomposition And The Nutrient Cycles., Jelly-Falls - Jelly-Falls Are Marine Carbon Cycling Events Whereby Gelatinous Zooplankton, Primarily Cnidarians, Sink To The Seafloor And Enhance Carbon And Nitrogen Fluxes Via Rapidly Sinking Particulate Organic Matter. These Events Provide Nutrition To Benthic Megafauna And Bacteria., Whaling - Whaling Is The Hunting Of Whales For Their Products Such As Meat And Blubber, Which Can Be Turned Into A Type Of Oil That Was Important In The Industrial Revolution., Animal Death, Whales, Aquatic Ecology