Ocean Explorer Crew Spots Rare Whale Fall
- 8 years ago
On Tuesday, the crew of the EV Nautilus marveled over ROV Hercules’ second whale fall discovery in recent days.
The E/V Nautilus team recently released a video showing a natural whale fall.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains on its website that a whale fall is a dead whale’s carcass which typically ends up sinking to the seafloor.
In the video the decay appears to be rather advanced, but the crew points out that the state is not necessarily indicative of the remains’ age.
Ocean environments can be much more acidic than those on dry land, and may cause deterioration to occur at a comparatively accelerated pace.
This is the second whale fall discovery made by the team in recent days.
Notably, the closely occurring whale skeleton finds aren’t necessarily an indication of abnormal conditions or threats.
The coastal Southern California area in which both were observed is along an established migratory path.
The E/V Nautilus team recently released a video showing a natural whale fall.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains on its website that a whale fall is a dead whale’s carcass which typically ends up sinking to the seafloor.
In the video the decay appears to be rather advanced, but the crew points out that the state is not necessarily indicative of the remains’ age.
Ocean environments can be much more acidic than those on dry land, and may cause deterioration to occur at a comparatively accelerated pace.
This is the second whale fall discovery made by the team in recent days.
Notably, the closely occurring whale skeleton finds aren’t necessarily an indication of abnormal conditions or threats.
The coastal Southern California area in which both were observed is along an established migratory path.