Whale fall

A whale fall is the carcass of a cetacean that has fallen into the Bathyal or Abyssal zone on the ocean floor. They are found at depths of 2,000 m or 6,600 ft, and 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.