Major Ideas
- Dozens of communities that are supported by sunken whale carcasses and more than 400 species that are living in and around them, of which at least 30 have not been seen anywhere else.
- A single dead whale can nourish a specialized ecosystem that lasts for decades.
- species similar to those at whale falls may have depended on dead marine reptiles for hundreds of millions of years.
- Some signs suggest that whale-fall ecosystems have exchanges with other deep-seafloor communities, such as hydrothermal vents.
- Most whales are negatively buoyant when they die and thus sink rather than get beached.
- Specialized bacteria an aerobically break down lipids contained in the bones. These microorganisms use dissolved sulfate as their source of oxygen and release hydrogen sulfide as waste.
- Whale bones are extremely rich in lipids a 40-ton whale carcass may contain 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms and their decomposition is a slow process. As a consequence, for a large whale the sulfophilic stage can last up to 50 years, even perhaps a century.
- Estimated that around 69,000 great whales die every year.
- Scavenger stage: hagfish primordial relatives of vertebrates that are virtually blind and live on the muddy seafloor eat much of the blubber and muscle tissue, helped by other scavengers, including sleeper sharks and some crabs.
- Opportunist stage: animals feed on leftover scraps of meat and blubber and on whale oil that has soaked the surrounding sediment. These include snails, bristle worms and hooded shrimp.
- Torishima Seamount south of Japan and Monterey Bay; newer studies have confirmed that a consistent group of organisms depends on whale falls throughout the world's oceans.
- The tunnel 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.
- Zombie worms, also known as Osedax, grow "roots" in dead whale bones, which they slowly consume.
- Earliest whale-fall communities from the late Eocene and the Oligocene were dominated bu clams that also occur in nonchemosynthetic habitats.
- The chemosynthetic mollusks that characterize modern whale falls in the sulfophilic stage do not show up until the Miocene fossils.
- Whale-fall limpets were also able to live on reptile bones and thus perhaps on the extint Mesozoic marine reptiles as well.
Summary
A dead whale sinks to the seafloor brings a sudden bonanza of food to the dark; dozens of communities that are supported by sunken whale carcasses and more than 400 species that are living in and around them, of which at least 30 have not been seen anywhere else. Stages of a whale-fall community is scavenger stage, duration up to 2 years. Next one is opportunist stage, duration up to 2 years. Then the last stage is sulfophilic stage, duration up to 50 years. Crispin and his co-workers estimated that around 69,000 great whales die every year; their guess is there might be 690,000 skeletons of the nine largest whale species rotting in the world's ocean at any one time. Whales have rich lipids, a 40-ton whale carcass can contain 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms, but as a consequence, for large whales the sulfophilic stage can last up to 50 years, even maybe a century. Zombie worms a.k.a Osedox create tunnel activity that rapidly destroys the exposed whale bones, which likely speeds up the sulfophilic stage for an infested skeleton, thus affecting its entire habitat.
A dead whale sinks to the seafloor brings a sudden bonanza of food to the dark; dozens of communities that are supported by sunken whale carcasses and more than 400 species that are living in and around them, of which at least 30 have not been seen anywhere else. Stages of a whale-fall community is scavenger stage, duration up to 2 years. Next one is opportunist stage, duration up to 2 years. Then the last stage is sulfophilic stage, duration up to 50 years. Crispin and his co-workers estimated that around 69,000 great whales die every year; their guess is there might be 690,000 skeletons of the nine largest whale species rotting in the world's ocean at any one time. Whales have rich lipids, a 40-ton whale carcass can contain 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms, but as a consequence, for large whales the sulfophilic stage can last up to 50 years, even maybe a century. Zombie worms a.k.a Osedox create tunnel activity that rapidly destroys the exposed whale bones, which likely speeds up the sulfophilic stage for an infested skeleton, thus affecting its entire habitat.
Reflection
This article is one that I found really really interesting because everything that I read was really surprising since I had no idea that whales start a new ecosystems for other organisms. It made me think that whales are not only harmful to organisms but are also helpful to other organisms. Whale skeletons are a stepping stone to new a community in the oceans. I find it also surprising that whether the ecology and evolutionary history of whale falls are truly linked to those of reptile falls and how both types of ecosystems relate to the other deep sea chemosynthetic communities.
This article is one that I found really really interesting because everything that I read was really surprising since I had no idea that whales start a new ecosystems for other organisms. It made me think that whales are not only harmful to organisms but are also helpful to other organisms. Whale skeletons are a stepping stone to new a community in the oceans. I find it also surprising that whether the ecology and evolutionary history of whale falls are truly linked to those of reptile falls and how both types of ecosystems relate to the other deep sea chemosynthetic communities.