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Whale Falls

by Patrick

The ocean is a mysterious place, especially the very deep parts of the ocean. After about 1000 or 2000 metres, there is no sunlight, and the water pressure becomes very strong. Because of this, it’s difficult for humans to explore the deep ocean. As a result, the ocean still has many surprises for us. I love to learn about the ocean: newly discovered animals and plants, and strange environments. Recently I learned about something in the deep ocean called a ‘whale fall’. (This is a little morbid, I’m afraid, but very interesting!) Have you ever wondered what happens to a whale when it dies? They’re such big animals – what happens to the body?

When a whale dies, sometimes its body gets washed up onto the shore. Other times, its body sinks to the bottom of a shallow part of the ocean. In shallow parts of the ocean, there are many, many species of animal, and some of them are quite big, so the whale’s body is completely eaten by other animals in a short amount of time. But sometimes, a dead whale’s body sinks to the bottom of the deep ocean. Here, because there is no sunlight, and high water pressure, there are not many species of animal, and the animals are mostly small. For this reason, it takes a long, long time for the whale’s body to be completely eaten by other animals – maybe decades (tens of years)! The whale’s skeleton becomes a place for other animals to live, like a new city block with apartment buildings and supermarkets. This deep ocean community is called a ‘whale fall’.

Humans saw a whale fall for the first time in the 1970s, and it’s only very recently that scientists have been able to observe them with new technology. They have been surprised at the numbers and diversity of organisms that can be found in a whale fall, including some species that have never been seen before!

Maybe it’s sad to think about a whale dying, but I think it’s amazing that after death, the whale’s body can become a new ecosystem, bringing life and energy to the coldest, deepest, darkest parts of the ocean.

You can see some photos and videos of whale falls at this URL:
http://www.oneworldoneocean.com/blog/entry/ocean_stemulation_whale_falls

I especially like this very cute and artistic video:
https://vimeo.com/29987934

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