Editing Cetacea (section)

=== Death ===
{{Main|Whale fall}}
Upon death, whale carcasses fall to the deep ocean and provide a substantial habitat for marine life. Evidence of whale falls in present-day and fossil records shows that deep-sea whale falls support a rich assemblage of creatures, with a global diversity of 407 species, comparable to other [[neritic]] biodiversity hotspots, such as [[cold seep]]s and [[hydrothermal vent]]s.<ref name="Smith&Baco2003">{{cite book |url=http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/faculty/csmith/Files/Smith%20and%20Baco%202003.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060817174541/http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/faculty/csmith/Files/Smith%20and%20Baco%202003.pdf |archive-date=2006-08-17 |url-status=live |title=Ecology of Whale Falls at the Deep-Sea Floor |author1=Smith, Craig R. |author2=Baco, Amy R. |volume=41 |date=2003 |pages=311–354 |access-date=23 August 2014 |doi=10.1201/9780203180594.ch6|series=Oceanography and Marine Biology - an Annual Review |doi-broken-date=2024-11-11 |isbn=978-0-415-25462-5 }}</ref>

Deterioration of whale carcasses happens through three stages. Initially, organisms such as [[shark]]s and [[hagfish]] scavenge the soft tissues at a rapid rate over a period of months and as long as two years. This is followed by the colonization of bones and surrounding sediments (which contain organic matter) by enrichment opportunists, such as [[crustaceans]] and [[polychaetes]], throughout a period of years. Finally, sulfophilic bacteria reduce the bones releasing [[hydrogen sulfide]] enabling the growth of [[chemoautotrophic]] organisms, which in turn, support organisms such as mussels, clams, limpets and sea snails. This stage may last for decades and supports a rich assemblage of species, averaging 185 per site.<ref name="Smith&Baco2003" /><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Fujiwara, Yoshihiro|title=Three-year investigations into sperm whale-fall ecosystems in Japan |journal=Marine Ecology |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=219–230|date=16 February 2007|display-authors=etal |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0485.2007.00150.x|bibcode=2007MarEc..28..219F|doi-access=free}}</ref>