- Researchers found a skeletal remain of a whale but even its death, the bones are filled with many aquatic species that are living in those bones.
- Investigators have documented dozens of communities that are supported by sunken whale carcasses and have described more than 400 species that are living in and around them
- Whale skeletons might act as “stepping-stones” for deep-sea animals to spread from one chemosynthetic community to another
- The first, which they called the mobile scavenger stage, starts when the whale carcass arrives on the seafloor. Hordes of fishes including the bigger fishes, they all ate the meat and the blubber of the whale
- The second stage, called the enrichment opportunist stage, lasts up to two years. Fishes populate the whale's carcasses and blubber that were left over by the scavengers.
- Whale bones are extremely rich in lipids—a 40-ton whale carcass may contain 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms
- there might be 690,000 skeletons of the nine largest whale species rotting in the world’s oceans at any one time.
- The average distance from one whale to the next would then be just 12 kilometers
- Osedax is a worm that feeds on the bones of whales. It uses green, fleshy “roots” to tunnel into exposed whale bones, presumably to obtain lipids or proteins
- The tunneling activity of Osedax rapidly destroys the exposed whale bones, which likely speeds up the sulfophilic stage for an infested skeleton, thus affecting its entire habitat.
- fewer active whale falls should make it more difficult for animals to get from one chemosynthetic site to another.
- In 1992, whale fall communities were recognized by mollusk fossils belonging to groups that host chemosynthetic bacteria or graze on microbial mats at chemosynthetic sites
- Fossil records of whale fall collection contains no remains of soft bodies animals because soft body parts decay readily
- Earliest whale-fall communities from the late Eocene and the Oligocene were dominated by clams that also occur in nonchemosynthetic habitats
Summary:
In 1992, whale fall communities were recognized by mollusk fossils. There are still less recognition on the whale fall but in 1987, on a routine expedition. Researchers found a skeletal remain of a whale on the seafloor and its teeming with life. Many organisms such as worms, clams and many fishes that are feeding off the bones. Investigators have documented dozens of communities that are supported by sunken whale carcasses and have described more than 400 species that are living in and around them. The first, which they called the mobile scavenger stage, that the whale arrives dead in the seafloor, many fishes including the bigger fishes fed the whales blubber and meat. The second stage, called the enrichment opportunist stage, lasts up to two years. many fishes populate the whales remains that were left over by the scavengers, bones and soft tissues.
After the researchers found out about the whale fall, many researchers all over the world, found out that the whale fall are helping the ecosystem. Whale skeletons might act as “stepping-stones” for deep-sea animals to spread from one chemosynthetic community to another. The remains of the whale helped the aquatic organisms down into the abyss where most food are insufficient. Fewer active whale fall should make it more difficult for animals to get from one chemosynthetic site to another. But, fossil records of whale fall collection contains no remains of soft bodies animals because soft body parts decay readily.
After the researchers found out about the whale fall, many researchers all over the world, found out that the whale fall are helping the ecosystem. Whale skeletons might act as “stepping-stones” for deep-sea animals to spread from one chemosynthetic community to another. The remains of the whale helped the aquatic organisms down into the abyss where most food are insufficient. Fewer active whale fall should make it more difficult for animals to get from one chemosynthetic site to another. But, fossil records of whale fall collection contains no remains of soft bodies animals because soft body parts decay readily.
My Reflection
Whales are important to the ecosystem, alive or dead. They sustain the oceans oxygen and cleans the oceans water and only eating phytoplankton, even till their deaths, they still contribute to the ecosystem as food for many species below. I always found whales amazing because of their humongous size but they always eat phytoplankton. I hope in the future, we can preserve the whales because they are very important to the ocean like earthworms in the soil. Whales are such an amazing creature in the oceans even their size are also astonishing, many fishes depends on them especially small fishes that are always with them for food.