Whale Fall: Deep-Sea Ecosystem Succession

When a whale dies and sinks to the abyssal seafloor, its carcass becomes one of the richest, longest-lived ecosystems in the deep ocean — a "whale fall". This simulator models the three real ecological succession stages discovered by submersible surveys: a fast mobile-scavenger stage where hagfish and sleeper sharks strip soft tissue, a slower enrichment-opportunist stage where worms and crustaceans colonize the nutrient-rich remains, and a multi-decade sulfophilic stage where chemosynthetic bacteria and bone-eating Osedax worms live off hydrogen sulfide released from the lipid-rich bones — the same chemical-energy strategy used at hydrothermal vents. Adjust carcass size, scavenger pressure and bacterial activity and watch the carcass, its consumers, and the bacterial mats evolve together in real time.