Whale falls turn dead giants into decades-long deep-sea oases
When a whale sinks to the abyssal seafloor, it creates a whale fall that can host up to 190 species around a single skeleton. Bone‑eating Osedax worms feed on the bones for up to a decade, while bacteria release hydrogen sulfide to sustain chemosynthetic communities. These processes create a long-lasting deep-sea ecosystem observed at depths of about 4,000–6,800 meters, though the total number of active whale falls globally remains unknown.
