olivers-undersea

[olivers-undersea]

COULD BE US

[olivers-undersea]

Wake up babe new fish dropped

[olivers-undersea]

We are not scared by much in the sea, but something that has a bone gripping fear in us is the sperm whale, nothing else really

[olivers-undersea]

Baleen Whale Fall

(source)

#whale fall #whalefall

[olivers-undersea]

Welcome to Oliver rants abt marine life

TOPIC(S): Whale fall, the purple octopus, salmon

CW:animal death and the futility of existence

SO WHALE FALL IS A NATURAL PHENOMENON IN WHICH A WHALE DIES AND ITS CARCASS FALLS TO THE OCEAN FLOOR FEEDING THOSE FOR DECADE (AROUND 50 YEARS) ECO SYSTEMS ARE BUILT AROUND THIS THAT LAST FOR DECADES

THERE ARE FOUR STAGES, WHILE FALLIN SHARKS AND OTHER FISH WILL JUST NOM ON IT,

THEN IT FALLS TO THE FLOOR WHILE MOST SOFT TISSUE IS EATEN BY OCTOPI, ISOPODS ETC

THEN BONE MARROW IS DRILLED INTO AND EATEN BY MORE EXOSKELETAL CREATURES/ALGAE COVERS THE BONES T

HEN IS THE REEF STAGE WHICH IS LARGELY UNKNOWN BECAUSE OF THE NUTRIENTS DEPOSITS IT WILL LEAVE BEHIND NEEDS TO BE OBSERVED MUCH LONGER

AND WHILE WHALE FALLS ARE COMMON MOST ARE UNOBSERVED BECAUSE THE SEA IS FUCKIN HUGE

SCIENTISTS WILL LOOK FOR WHALES THAT ARE DEAD AND THEN SINK EM BUT IT'S NOT A TRUE OBSERVATION

WITH WHALE FALLS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY A HUGE OUTBREAK OF BACTERIA AND ALGAE WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THIS IS LIKELY THE FIRST LARGE MEAL THESE CREATURES HAVE EVER AND WILL EVER HAVE

the VERY vital part in how deep sea creatures survive is a phenomenon known as "marine snow" which is organic materials falling from the top layers of ocean, a whale fall is just the jackpot of that, I guess what gets me is when you die on land you feed your neighbors, but when you die in the ocean you fall so deep that the only thing you are known as a blessing, perhaps a fallen god something that so few experience in their lifetime but that carries on for generations

It's a similar thing to the purple octopus the TLDR or their life is that mother deep sea purple octopus's brood for FOUR AND A HALF YEARS which means just sittin on their eggs they do not eat, rarely sleep due to the optic gland then as soon as their eggs hatch they die the mother will in a desperate frenzy eat herself and then fall into the abyss (coming the very marine snow she fed on) AND WHAT GETS ME IS HOW IT HAPPENS

like does she know this will be her fate? in her big alien brain when she swims past the cliffs speckled with other mothers she must realize this will be her fate right?? Does she live her life agonizing over when her time will come? when it is inevitably her end? Does she sit there for those four years angry, upset, this is her fate that she knew all along? or one day is she taken over with this undesirable urge to protect her eggs and is she happy and content or does she wait day by day waiting for it to end

AND IT'S ALL CONTROLLED BY THIS TINY ASS GLAND THAT RUNS IN BETWEEN THEIRS EYES THAT WHEN TAKEN OUT FOR EXPERIMENTATION (kind of on accident 💀) SAVES THEM FROM THIS DOOMED CYCLES, IN SOME CASES THE MOTHERS WILL ABANDON THEIR EGGS BUT THEY MOSTLY JUST LEAVE FOR SHORT PERIODS OF TIME TO HUNT, RETAINING THEIR BODY MASS AND DON'T EAT THEMSELVES ALIVE AFTER THEY HATCH

#whale fall #fishrant #fish #fishblr #sea creatures #aquatic life #marine life #marine biology #fishes

[olivers-undersea]

thinking about whale falls

(inspired by the work of @catadromously )

#fishart #whalefall

[olivers-undersea]

Nepenthes: Whalefall

[olivers-undersea]

W h a l e f a l l

C.W: Whale corpses

When a whale carcass floats down to the ocean floor in the abyssal zone, it creates an ecosystem called a 'whalefall', where a variety of deep marine life can live and be sustained for over 50 years.

This ecosystem has 4 stages:

Mobile Scavengers Stage

The first stage is when scavengers from around the plain gather to feast on the whales flesh - Typically by hagfish and sleeper sharks - until there is just bone.

This stage can last for months or up to 1.5 years.

Enrichment Opportunists Stage

This stage is when smaller scavengers - such as octopuses, crustaceans and molluscs - gather around the whale looking for tissue and bits of carcass left over from the first stage. This is also when osedax (boneworms) arrive and comsume the community of bacteria that eat the bone lipids.

This stage can last months or up to 5 years.

Sulfophilic Stage

In this stage the majority of scavengers have left and in its place are the boneworms and the community of chemosynthetic bacteria that break down the lipids in the bones and produces sulphide that can be consumed by other organisms like worms or shrimp.

This stage can last over 50 years.

Reef Stage

The final stage is when all the consumable material have been exhausted and the leftover bone creates a hard surface for abyssal filter feeders to latch onto. A 'reef' of sorts.

Whalefalls are one of many essential food-falls that sustain life at the bottom of the ocean, and are p cool i think anyway im done w my autism rant goodbye

[olivers-undersea]

feast!

#whalefall

[olivers-undersea]

trick or treat !!!! 🍬🦈 🎃 🦑 🕸️ 🐋 🍫

Please Leave Some Whale For The Other Scavengers!!!!

#whalefall

[olivers-undersea]

Whale Fall- what happens in the life after death of a whale at the bottom of the ocean.

#whalefall #fishart

[olivers-undersea]

When a whale falls

og art by Joy Yang

#whalefall #fishart

[olivers-undersea]

Whalebone Chasm - The Abyss

Endless Ocean, Nintendo Wii

genuinely one of my favourite locations in the whole series, so cool...

#whalefall

[olivers-undersea]

I drew this in a State bc hozier and whales were making me feel some type of way

#whalefall #fishart

[olivers-undersea]

girls night

#whalefall

[olivers-undersea]

Whale Fall - Short Comic

Whale fall is the phenomenon where a whale dies and its carcass becomes a massive food source for the creature that call the deep sea home. To these creatures surely this behemoth falling from the heavens must be some sort of god

#whalefall #fishart

[olivers-undersea]

creature of a culture

#whalefall #fishart