I've emerged from my cave.
It was refreshing to drop this for a while and enjoy something other than staring at my blog updates page like the fat kid staring at the microwave , waiting for that beep so he can score his next plate of pizza bagels.
I'm going to start posting random (mostly useless) facts each Friday. If anything, it will help you become masters in Trivial Pursuit...
Today's Fact: Whale Fall (sourced from Wikipedia)
Whale fall is the term used for a whale carcass that has fallen to the ocean floor. When a whale dies in shallow water, its carcass is typically devoured by scavengers over a relatively short period of time - within several months. However, in deeper water (depths of 2000m or greater), fewer scavenger species exist, and the carcass can provide sustenance for a complex localized ecosystem over periods of decades, or possibly centuries.
Some of the organisms that have been observed at whale falls are squat lobsters, Osedax (bone-eating worms), crabs, sea cucumbers, octopuses, clams, and even deep-sea sleeper sharks. Whale falls are often inhabited by large colonies of tubeworms. Over 30 previously unknown species have been discovered at whale falls.
Given that whale deaths occur at locations that are largely random, carcasses are believed to exist at many locations on the seabed, like oases in the nutrient-poor abyssal plain, with average spacings estimated at 25 km.
Marine biologists sometimes transport dead whales that have washed up on coastlines, towing them offshore to create a whale fall at a known location that can then be studied over a long period of time.
Stay tuned, next Wednesday will start a lengthy segment on eating out, and why you shouldn't.
Stay warm! It's 13 on the mercury this morning...
9 comments:
I like the idea of the random Friday fact feature, and what happens to dead sea creatures had never crossed my mind. Weird, isn't it?
On another note, tubeworms sound unbelievably disgusting. Can't wait to read about eating out and why we shouldn't...I just hope it has nothing to do with tubeworms.
Addie
PS - Glad you're back!
Very very interesting, I must say. I would like to add that SEA CUCUMBERS expel their entire digestive tract when startled (fight or flight) and then grow new ones. I figured this was a great segue from your post to the anticipated eating out one. LOL. Have a great wknd!
So glad you're back!
1) My collection of trivia and/or "freaky" facts is woefully incomplete.
and
2) I may need to take you up on your kind offer to whip my blog into shape.
I am a bit distressed to think that now I will be the only one "staring at my blog updates like a fat kid staring at the microwave". lol
No promises about tubeworm restraint, but I'll do my best.
Maria - It's still better than the fight/flight mechanism of the Rhesus monkey. I figure the cucumber expels the digestive tract then probably needs some serious downtime to regenerate. The Rhesus monkey can fling poo all day long.
Alex - Just email if you want me to take a look at it.
Hmmm...can we do a field trip to the Yerkes Primate Center? Hi, my name is Hu Flung Dung.
Have you read "The Hot Zone"?
Random fact Friday - what a great idea! Oddly enough, I first heard of whale falls a year and a half ago while we were on a road trip up the Pacific coast and visited the Bodega Marine Lab run by UC Davis. We just happened to be passing by during the two hour window per week when the offer tours. We hadn't planed to stop - heck we didn't know the place even existed until we drove past, but were all glad we did.
Thanks for reminding me of a very cool experience. I'm sure I won't be lucky enough to have stumbled over your next random fact in advance.
Maria - I haven't read that, but I do know of it. Wasn't it one of the sources for that Dustin Hoffman movie, Outbreak?
did you not see the photos of the whale that exploded in taiwan? they found a carcass washed ashore and then moved it (or tried to) in the sweltering heat. bloated. go boom. so gross.
Toast - Yeah, I heard it took weeks to wash that smell off their skin...Just kinda sticks there, huh?
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