Feb

2

Whale corpseSurely there must be some good market analogies here in this wonderful, brief video narrated by David Attenborough showing the feeding strategies of Bottlenose Dolphins.

Pitt Maner III comments:

Amazing video. Dolphins also can echo locate a pin on the bottom of a pool from large distances.

While we are on the topic — sessile, bottom feeders appear to make out fairly well in the long run also! Talk about a meal for a lifetime…

Dead whales constitute an unpredictable food source, as it's impossible to figure when and where one will die. And it's a one-shot deal. But nevertheless, when the hefty animals die, they sink to the seafloor and the payoff is big for marine species able to cash in. Scientists estimate one whale corpse provides the nutritional equivalent of 2,000-years worth of normal biological detritus sinking to the seafloor.

Nick Higgs is on a research cruise off Japan to find out more about the amazing ecosystems that form around dead whales on the seabed.


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