What happens when a blue whale dies? - Navo

• The largest animal species, the blue whale can weigh up to 200 tons.
• When a blue whale dies other animals feast on its remains for more than a century.
• When the carcass sinks to the sea floor it is swarmed by mobile scavengers such as sleeper sharks, hag-fish and king crabs who nibble away soft tissue.
• Clams, snails and crustaceans and worms feed on sulfides released by bacteria that have invaded the bones of the carcass.This stage may last a hundred years.
• Recently discovered that gutless zombie worms that bore into the bones and mine the lipids, assisted by bacteria inside their body.