Question

1. Where are whale falls  found both in the ocean and on the global scale?

2.What are some of the major challenges for organisms living there (i.e. why do only

certain organisms survive there)•

3.How do some organisms cope with living there(i.e. special adaptations)•

4.Examples of major organisms that live there including the taxonomic groups (at minimum listed to phylum though some cases may require you to go as low as class)•

5.Besides the large, charismatic organisms everyone loves, your examples of major organisms should also include:

Primary producers

If there isn’t one, what is the source of energy for the ecosystem

Major habitat or structure forming organisms

Answer 1

1. When whales die and sink, their carcasses known as whale falls, provide a bounty of nutrients for deepwater creatures. When whales die and sink, the whale carcasses or whale falls, provide a sudden, concentrated food source for organisms in the deep sea. Scavengers consume the soft tissue in a matter of months. Organic fragments, or detritus, enrich the sediments nearby for over a year. The whale skeleton can support rich communities for years to decades, both as a hard substrate (or surface) for invertebrate colonization and as a source of sulfides from the decay of organic compounds of whale bones.

2. Because whale fall carcass falls at the bottom of the ocean floor. At this depth mobile scavengers are probably less active, but sulphophilic organisms may appear sooner. Its huge carcass poses a challenge for many organisms already living there.

3. The already living organisms try to decompose its body and obtain nutrient from its carcass.

4. whale bones are rich in fats. It’s thought that a whale fall community may live off of the fats and sulphides of one set of whale bones for up to a century. Different stages in the decomposition of a whale carcass support a succession of marine biological communities. In the second phase (the enrichment opportunist phase), worms, crustaceans and molluscs feed on leftover blubber, often burrowing into the nutrient-enriched sediment beneath the whale for around two years. The final stage, called the sulfophilic stage, can last decades.