There are three major sets of events associated with the succession that occurs in the deep dark ocean beds after the death of whale.
1. The dead whale firstly sinks at the bottom of the ocean on the inhospitable floor. The dead body attracts many scavengers towards it. Such scavengers may include amphipods, and sharks. Such scavengers feed on the dead whale and scavenge most of the body tissue.
2. Once most of the body tissue is consumed by the early scavengers, the whale body may support only smaller life forms like small fishes, crabs, and marine snails. These smaller life forms enrich the surrounding area with nutrients. Such nutrients help in the proliferation of many sedimentary marine worms.
3. In the final stage, with only the skeleton remaining, the microorganisms feed on the oils present in the bones. While doing so, they produce chemical compounds that act as raw material for many chemosynthetic bacteria, which in turn support many other life forms of sedimentary dwellers like mussels, snails, and crabs.