whale carcass
Beached cetacean remains
A whale carcass is the dead body of a whale, whether floating at sea, washed ashore, or sunk to the ocean floor.
Beached whale carcasses create disposal challenges for coastal communities and occasionally explode from built-up gases.
On the seafloor, a whale carcass—called a whale fall—sustains entire ecosystems of scavengers and specialized organisms for decades: Scientists discovered a thriving community around the whale carcass.
- beachedStuck on land
- decomposingOrganic matter breaking down
- blubberMarine mammal fat
- oceanMassive saltwater body
- rottingOrganic matter decomposing
washed ashore · rotting flesh · stench · scavengers · feeding frenzy · sharks · great white · beach · bones · skeleton · nature documentary · floating · bloated · explosion · marine · death · flesh · seabirds