A Whale’s Afterlife

Even after death, a whale turns into a vital hub of biodiversity in the otherwise nutrient-poor deep sea, supporting communities of hundreds and thousands of species for up to half a century. This illustration depicts the gift of life that a whale gives to the countless creatures in a whale fall ecosystem, from sleeper sharks and hagfish to urchins and bone-eating worms.

The species in this illustration were selected through scientific research, comprising commonly found species at whale fall sites in different geographical locations. There are four ecological successions in whale fall ecosystems which supports different communities at each stage: the mobile scavenger stage, opportunist stage, scopophilic stage, and the reef stage. The illustration depicts these stages' succession from left to right.