When a dead whale sinks to the seafloor, its 'whale fall' becomes an oasis feeding deep-sea life for decades — up to 190 species crowding a single skeleton, with bone-eating worms gnawing the bones fo

One whale skeleton on the deep seafloor can host an entire neighbourhood of animals. On whale skeletons studied, researchers have found as many as 190 species of macroscopic bottom-dwelling animals on a single skeleton. Biologists call the phenomenon a whale fall, and the name is almost literal: a body falls, and an oasis assembles around […]