The Prolific Afterlife
Notes:
-A single dead whale can nourish a specialized ecosystem that lasts for decades.
-Some signs suggest that whale-fall ecosystems have exchanges with other deep-seafloor communities, such as hydro- thermal vents.
-Species similar to those at whale falls may have depended on dead marine reptiles for hundreds of millions of years.
-To understand the workings and duration of whale-fall communities, Smith and his colleagues set up a logistically tricky and somewhat smelly Various fossil whales show signs of having sustained communities similar to those of modern whale falls—in- including many of the inverte- brates that depend on symbiotic sulfide-oxidizing bacteria.project in 1992.
-They began to take whales that had washed up on the Californian coast and tow them out sea and then sink them in deep waters with up to 2,700 kilograms of steel ballast to counteract the buoyancy of decomposition gases. (
-Whale falls, they observed, go through three partially overlapping ecological stages. The first, which they called the mobile scavenger stage, starts when the whale carcass arrives on the seafloor.
-The second stage, called the enrichment opportunist stage, lasts up to two years. During this period high-density, though low-diversity, communities of animals colonize the sediments surrounding the whale carcasses and the newly exposed bones.
-Finally, once the soft tissue is gone, the whale falls enter the third, and longest, phase, known as the sulfophilic stage.
-A dead whale that sinks to the seafloor brings a sudden bonanza of food to the dark, desert like expanse. The community of organisms that springs up undergoes three ecological stages. each stage is characterized by different species and different food webs— although at many such sites, the stages can overlap.
- They take O2 from the seawater to oxidize the sulfide, generating energy for growth. Ani- mals can then either exploit such bacteria sym- biotically (as do mussels and vesicomyid and lu- cinid clams) or feed on them by grazing bacterial mats (as do limpets and snails)
-Ever since Smith and his colleagues set up their whale-fall experiment, sinking large dead whales has proved quite popular; three other groups, based in Sweden, Japan and Monterey, Calif., have been conducting similar experiments.
- Oth- er whale skeletons have been found by chance in various deep-water sites, for example, at the Tor- ishima Seamount south of Japan and in Monterey Bay.
-The newer studies have confirmed that a consistent group of organisms depends on whale falls throughout the world’s oceans
-there may be 690,000 skeletons of the nine largest whale species rotting in the world’s oceans at any one time.
-Various fossil whales show signs of having sustained communities similar to those of modern whale falls—in- cluding many of the inverte- brates that depend on symbiotic sulfide-oxidizing bacteria.
-A single dead whale can nourish a specialized ecosystem that lasts for decades.
-Some signs suggest that whale-fall ecosystems have exchanges with other deep-seafloor communities, such as hydro- thermal vents.
-Species similar to those at whale falls may have depended on dead marine reptiles for hundreds of millions of years.
-To understand the workings and duration of whale-fall communities, Smith and his colleagues set up a logistically tricky and somewhat smelly Various fossil whales show signs of having sustained communities similar to those of modern whale falls—in- including many of the inverte- brates that depend on symbiotic sulfide-oxidizing bacteria.project in 1992.
-They began to take whales that had washed up on the Californian coast and tow them out sea and then sink them in deep waters with up to 2,700 kilograms of steel ballast to counteract the buoyancy of decomposition gases. (
-Whale falls, they observed, go through three partially overlapping ecological stages. The first, which they called the mobile scavenger stage, starts when the whale carcass arrives on the seafloor.
-The second stage, called the enrichment opportunist stage, lasts up to two years. During this period high-density, though low-diversity, communities of animals colonize the sediments surrounding the whale carcasses and the newly exposed bones.
-Finally, once the soft tissue is gone, the whale falls enter the third, and longest, phase, known as the sulfophilic stage.
-A dead whale that sinks to the seafloor brings a sudden bonanza of food to the dark, desert like expanse. The community of organisms that springs up undergoes three ecological stages. each stage is characterized by different species and different food webs— although at many such sites, the stages can overlap.
- They take O2 from the seawater to oxidize the sulfide, generating energy for growth. Ani- mals can then either exploit such bacteria sym- biotically (as do mussels and vesicomyid and lu- cinid clams) or feed on them by grazing bacterial mats (as do limpets and snails)
-Ever since Smith and his colleagues set up their whale-fall experiment, sinking large dead whales has proved quite popular; three other groups, based in Sweden, Japan and Monterey, Calif., have been conducting similar experiments.
- Oth- er whale skeletons have been found by chance in various deep-water sites, for example, at the Tor- ishima Seamount south of Japan and in Monterey Bay.
-The newer studies have confirmed that a consistent group of organisms depends on whale falls throughout the world’s oceans
-there may be 690,000 skeletons of the nine largest whale species rotting in the world’s oceans at any one time.
-Various fossil whales show signs of having sustained communities similar to those of modern whale falls—in- cluding many of the inverte- brates that depend on symbiotic sulfide-oxidizing bacteria.
Summary: This particular article refers to how whales can in fact work as a very good home provider for other creatures in the seas. The single whale after it dies goes at the bottom ocean floor and it can nourish a specialized ecosystem for decades. The whale itself can work as many different ecosystems that include hydrothermal vent. The article provided an example research from Smith and his colleagues. The examined various fossils and studied them. What they got from it was that the whale fossil had signs of sustainable communities similar to those of modern whale falls including invertebrates that depended on sulfide oxidizing bacteria project..The project then turned into a study and this group actually took whales that washed up California coast and dump them out into the seas and let them sink into the Ocean floor. When the whale falls it goes through 3 stages. The first, which they called the mobile scavenger stage, starts when the whale carcass arrives on the seafloor.The second stage, called the enrichment opportunist stage, lasts up to two years. During this period high-density, though low-diversity, communities of animals colonize the sediments surrounding the whale carcasses and the newly exposed bones. Finally, once the soft tissue is gone, the whale falls enter the third, and longest, phase, known as the sulfophilic stage. This then coverts slowly into an ecosystem and provides nutrients for other fishes and creatures from the sea to take.
My opinion:
In my opinion the whole project itself was a really great idea. It was a great idea because if not having resources for these fishes why not use whats already in the ocean. The whale works well as a central ecosystem and many fishes and animals don't have ma places to depend on anymore. It will take a lot of time and process for animals to adapt but if it is done well a lot of things can benefit from it. I was really interest on the fact that we haven't applied these thing into other areas of the ecosystem. A project can be produced from it and if taken action a lot of people can benefit. If we take action and apply ideas like these then later we can have more fishes and help the developing countries become better.
In my opinion the whole project itself was a really great idea. It was a great idea because if not having resources for these fishes why not use whats already in the ocean. The whale works well as a central ecosystem and many fishes and animals don't have ma places to depend on anymore. It will take a lot of time and process for animals to adapt but if it is done well a lot of things can benefit from it. I was really interest on the fact that we haven't applied these thing into other areas of the ecosystem. A project can be produced from it and if taken action a lot of people can benefit. If we take action and apply ideas like these then later we can have more fishes and help the developing countries become better.
So what? Says who? What if...?What does this remind me of?
So what?
-This is important because we know now what to do with the whales that are washed up on the coast and now we can just sink them at the bottom of the ocean floor and make them as ecosystems. Says who? -Smith and the researcher providers form the Article provided this information and saw that whales are very beneficial. |
What if?
-If the Whales are not thrown off back into the ocean floor we can waste a lot of opportunities in which they can provide ecosystems for other animals. What does this remind you of? -This reminds me of other creature living in land because many animal do use other animals resources once they are gone. |