The Prolific Afterlife of Whale
Whales have an important
role to play in nutrient cycling. Their poo, for example, makes organic carbon
more accessible to smaller organisms. Even a dead whale carcass is important in
carbon cycling, particularly the export of carbon to the deep sea. The falling
carcass (whale fall) brings carbon acquired at the surface (usually in the form
of plankton) to the sea floor as the whale's body (a large carbon reservoir)
sinks. The larger the whale, the more carbon-filled tissues it has, meaning that
larger whales export more carbon. Whaling has reduced the size of whale
populations and the
size of whales. It has been estimated that bringing whale populations back to
their natural level will mean 1.6 x 105 tonnes of carbon could be exported to the deep sea through whale falls
- that works out at over 36 double decker busses worth of carbon per day! This
is important in the context of global climate change as this export of carbon to
the sediment means it can no longer interact with the atmosphere.
- Some signs suggest that whale-fall ecosystems have exchanges with other deep-seafloor communities, such as hydrothermal vents.
- Species similar to those at whale falls may have depended on dead marine reptiles for hundreds of million of years.
- Dead whales could host specialized animal communities.
- Mussels, limpets were 2 of new animals found in recovered whale bones.
- There may be 690000 skeletons of nine largest whale species rotting in the world's oceans at any one time.
- The dead whale that sinks to the seafloor brings a sudden bonanza of food to the dark, desertlike expanse.
- Whale bones are extremely rich in lipids.
- Around 69000 great whales die every year
- There were mussels, tube worms, clams, limpets, zombie worm, bristle worm, hooded shrimp, etc. have found in whale carcasses.
- Researchers have found that similar communities existed before whales on the carcass of ancient marine reptiles
bones of the whale are a source of food and nutrients to these organisms. Aside from the animals there are also decomposer which chemosynthetic. Chemosynthetic means those organisms pull energy from ocean vents. However these chemosynthetic organisms have been around much longer than the whales, leading researchers to believe these organisms have had other carcasses to feed on such as that of some dinosaurs. Studies have shown that the innards of the two are very
similar.
- Whale fall are very important to other living organism under the ocean because whale carcasses provide food and nutrients to many species, vital source of food, longer lasting source of food, and beneficial to many species.
What if?
- There were no whale falls, then no food for many chemosynthetic species, decrease amount of species, and ecosystem at the ocean floor would be altered.
Says who?
- Crispin T. S. Little, Craig Smith, Kiel, Jim Goedert, Kazukata Amano, and other researchers.
What does this remind me of?
- The Fish and the Forest article because they both talk about how important, and benefit of organism deaths are.