Dead whale becomes home to thriving marine life on ocean floor
Dead whale becomes home to thriving marine life on ocean floor
Nearly 16 meters in length, the skeleton is of an unknown species of whale, however, the site is located in the migration area of the gray whale.
- The carcass of the fallen whale has created a mini ecosystem
- Nearly 16 meters in length, the skeleton is of an unknown species
- The team gathered sediment and water samples from near the whale fall
A dead whale has become home to a thriving marine ecosystem at the bottom of the ocean and researchers have now captured the extent of this growing community under the waters of the North Pacific.
The carcass of the fallen whale has created a mini ecosystem at the bottom of the ocean, also known as the benthic zone. The carcass known as whale fall offers new insights into how these remains allow ecosystems to thrive.
Discovered at a depth of 1,250 meters off the coast of British Columbia in 2009, scientists have been keeping track of the decomposition rate of the carcass and how it has acted as a life-giving spot.
The team part of Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is studying how whale falls represent an oasis of food supply in an often food-deprived deep-sea floor and how it has sustained a diverse assemblage of marine organisms for up to decades. Observations of the whale fall began in 2012 as the teams would return to the site to maintain the observatory’s seafloor instruments.
The team inspected whale fall with ROV video surveys and sampling in 2012, 2020, and during the current survey to understand how the marine fauna associated with the whale remains have evolved since its first discovery.
Nearly 16 meters in length, the skeleton is of an unknown species of whale, however, the site is located in the migration area of the gray whale.
“The skeleton supports a rich benthic fauna (organisms that live near the seafloor), including many invertebrates and a few fish species, such as Cocculina craigsmithi (gastropod), Mitrella (Astyris) permodesta (bucinoid gastropod), Ilyarachna profunda (isopod), Paralomis multispina (crab), Coryphaenoides acrolepis (rattail fish), and Lamellibrachia cf. barhami (tube worms),” the team said in a blog post.
The team also gathered sediment and water samples beside the whale fall and 10 meters away to analyze environmental DNA for identifying levels of marine biodiversity present in the surrounding.
“After analysis by scientists at ONC and collaborators, the work conducted at the Bullseye site will provide a much better understanding of the fate of whale falls and their role in the nutrient cycle in deep ocean environments,” the team added.