- A dead whale can become an ecosystem that last for decades
- 400 species live in or around it, 30 of which have not been found anywhere else
- The animals feed directly on the large amounts of blubber and other scraps of nutritious soft tissue left over by the scavengers (mainly polychaetes and crustaceans)
- Third stage = sulfophilic stage
- Specialized bacteria anaerobically break down lipids contained in the bones
- They use dissolved sulfate (SO4) as their source of oxygen and release hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as waste
- Certain chemosynthetic bacteria can breakdown poisonous gases for other animals to consume
- Whale bones are rich in lipids
- 690,000 skeletons of the nine largest whale species rotting in the world’s oceans at any one time
- Groups of organisms depends on whale falls throughout the world’s oceans
When whales die their bodies sink to the bottom of the ocean. Once it gets the bottom other whales or sharks might eat its organ while smaller organisms devoir everything else for decades to come. The whale body becomes an ecosystem for some of the rarest organisms in the oceans. of dead whales being hosts of animal communities came in 1854, when a zoologist found a new mussel from the burrows of whale blubber off the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Whale falls go through 3 ecological stages known as mobile scavenger stage, whale carcass arrives on sea floor, hordes of hagfish tunnel through the meat and sharks take bigger bites which strips away the bulk of the whale, enrichment opportunist stage, lasts for 2 years, during this period high-density, though low-diversity, communities of animals colonize the sediments surrounding the whale carcasses and the newly exposed bones. This stage is dominated by polychaetes (bristle worms) and crustaceans and sulfophilic stage, bacteria anaerobically break down lipids contained in bones. As you can see whales build new communities, they are very much needed in the oceans.
I think this was an interesting article and should makes want to do more to protect the whales it also gives us the chance to study rare organisms that are only found on dead whales. As scientist discover more about the ecosystem more people will realize the importance of protecting these amazing creatures. In addition this may help discover new ways to protect more of ecosystems.
- 400 species live in or around it, 30 of which have not been found anywhere else
- The animals feed directly on the large amounts of blubber and other scraps of nutritious soft tissue left over by the scavengers (mainly polychaetes and crustaceans)
- Third stage = sulfophilic stage
- Specialized bacteria anaerobically break down lipids contained in the bones
- They use dissolved sulfate (SO4) as their source of oxygen and release hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as waste
- Certain chemosynthetic bacteria can breakdown poisonous gases for other animals to consume
- Whale bones are rich in lipids
- 690,000 skeletons of the nine largest whale species rotting in the world’s oceans at any one time
- Groups of organisms depends on whale falls throughout the world’s oceans
When whales die their bodies sink to the bottom of the ocean. Once it gets the bottom other whales or sharks might eat its organ while smaller organisms devoir everything else for decades to come. The whale body becomes an ecosystem for some of the rarest organisms in the oceans. of dead whales being hosts of animal communities came in 1854, when a zoologist found a new mussel from the burrows of whale blubber off the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Whale falls go through 3 ecological stages known as mobile scavenger stage, whale carcass arrives on sea floor, hordes of hagfish tunnel through the meat and sharks take bigger bites which strips away the bulk of the whale, enrichment opportunist stage, lasts for 2 years, during this period high-density, though low-diversity, communities of animals colonize the sediments surrounding the whale carcasses and the newly exposed bones. This stage is dominated by polychaetes (bristle worms) and crustaceans and sulfophilic stage, bacteria anaerobically break down lipids contained in bones. As you can see whales build new communities, they are very much needed in the oceans.
I think this was an interesting article and should makes want to do more to protect the whales it also gives us the chance to study rare organisms that are only found on dead whales. As scientist discover more about the ecosystem more people will realize the importance of protecting these amazing creatures. In addition this may help discover new ways to protect more of ecosystems.