These whalefalls are hard to find and biologists only discovered them 30 years ago. In those 30 years only 6 carcasses have been found. In fact, these are so hard to find that biologists have begun to sink whale carcasses purposefully. The carcasses are extremely rare but there are species that thrive on these carcasses. These species often feed on a carcass for a long time. The whale found by the South Sandwich Islands was estimated to have been dead for many decades.
Even though the whale was dead, it was providing for many other species. For example, a new species of worm was found in the carcass and it has been identified as a member of the genus Osedax. They eat bone and burrow inside the carcasses. Another exciting discovery is of a limpet that has not been named yet. Limpets are sea or freshwater snails.
NOS Themes
1) Science is Collaborative
For these species to be discovered and examined, biologists from London and researchers that found the carcass had to work together.
2) Science is Based on Evidence
Without the carcass there would be no proof of these species.
3) Importance of Repeatability
There have been a few carcasses discovered but more will need to be found to support current data.
4) Role of Motivation and Curiosity
All scientists are motivated to find and explore new things. The carcasses that have been found couldn't have been discovered unless scientists looked systematically for things on the seafloor. This seems as if it would take a lot of motivation.
Link to Article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130319-dead-whale-antarctica-new-species-science/
A cool video I found: http://vimeo.com/29987934
That is so cool! New species just arise from other species, I find that amazing actually. And how other species are feeding off of this dead whale reminds me of how lions eat their prey, then the left overs are for the others that want to eat.
ReplyDeleteWorms eat bones? Since when???
I found this really interseting. I knew organisms used carcasses for food and some other things, but I didn't know that some organisms actually lived in these carcasses. I wonder if there are some other occurances like this one that are yet to be discovered.
ReplyDeleteI also found this very interesting. I found an article that told of sharks that also feed on whale carcass. The main food source of these sharks are dolphins, but they are also known to feed on whales.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thefreelibrary.com/Concurrent+scavenging+off+a+whale+carcass+by+great+white+sharks,...-a064909356
What a cool article! I never knew that whale carcasses would sink and other animals would feed off them, even after all their meat is gone. It's amazing how scientists are always discovering so many new species. I would never have thought that there would be a species of worms that feed off dead animal bones. I would like to add the theme Science is Subject to Debate and Tentative. It stated in the article that they are hoping to find out more on these whalefall communities and new information will help them discover more species.
ReplyDelete