The Whale Fall Ecosystem

When a whale dies and sinks, it creates a temporary oasis called a whale fall. A single carcass can sustain a community for 50 to 100 years through distinct stages.

First come the mobile scavengers — hagfish, sleeper sharks, and crabs that strip the soft tissue in months. Then bone-eating worms and bacteria colonize the skeleton, dissolving it over decades.

The final stage is the strangest: chemosynthetic bacteria feed on sulfides from the bones, building communities that mirror hydrothermal vents. Whale falls are common enough to act as stepping stones linking those isolated vents across the deep ocean.