What is "whale fall"

n. A whale carcass that has fallen to the seafloor, which in deeper water can sustain a diverse local ecosystem for decades.

A whale fall is the carcass of a cetacean that has fallen into the Bathyal or Abyssal zone (i.e. deeper than ) on the ocean floor. They can create complex localized ecosystems that supply sustenance to deep-sea organisms for decades. This is unlike in shallower waters, where a whale carcass will be consumed by scavengers over a relatively short period of time. It was with the development of deep-sea robotic exploration that whale falls were first observed in the late 1970s.

Organisms that have been observed at deep-sea whale falls include giant isopods, squat lobsters, bristleworms, prawns, shrimp, lobsters, hagfish, Osedax, crabs, sea cucumbers, and sleeper sharks.