Норвегийн далайн ёроолыг зураглах MAREANO хөтөлбөрийн судлаачид Арктикийн ёроолоос халимны яс, шүд бүхий далайн амьтдын нэгдлийг санамсаргүйгээр илрүүлжээ.
Судлаачид алсын удирдлагатай хөлөг (ROV) ашиглан далайн ёроолыг шинжилж байхдаа шавар дотроос цухуйсан өтний бөөгнөрлийг анзаарч, дээж авахаар малталт хийсэн байна. Энэ үед хар өнгийн үүл мэт тунадас дэгдэж, улмаар халимны яс, шүдний хэлтэрхий илэрчээ. Эрдэмтэд үүнийг халим үхэж далайн ёроолд унаснаар үүсдэг “халимны уналт” (whale fall) хэмээх үзэгдэл хэмээн тайлбарлаж байна.
Эдгээр үлдэгдэл нь гүн тэнгисийн олон төрлийн амьтдыг шим тэжээлээр хангаж, нүүрстөрөгч, хүхэр, азот, фосфорын эргэлтэд чухал үүрэг гүйцэтгэдэг ажээ. Судалгааны багийнхан тухайн газраас Notomastus өт, Saduria хавч зэрэг амьтдыг илрүүлсэн бөгөөд энэ нь гүн тэнгисийн экосистемд томоохон тэжээлийн эх үүсвэр болдог байна.
Гэвч ийм төрлийн экосистем нь далайн ёроолын хурдас дор булагддаг тул илрүүлэхэд хүндрэлтэй байдаг. Судлаачид ийм эмзэг бүсүүд хүний үйл ажиллагаа, тухайлбал загас агнуурын торонд өртөх эрсдэлтэйг анхааруулж байна. Энэхүү нээлт нь гүн тэнгисийн бүлгэмдлийн холбоо хамаарал болон экологийн үүргийг ойлгоход чухал ач холбогдолтой юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Scientists exploring the Arctic seafloor spotted something odd: a patch of worms sticking out of the mud. They decided to dig into it, expecting little more than a sediment sample. Instead, they pulled up whale bones and teeth, revealing a hidden underwater grave full of life.
Researchers from MAREANO, Norway’s national seabed-mapping program, were using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to explore the ocean floor when they noticed something that didn’t quite fit. Most of the landscape looked the same, but one spot was covered in unusually dense clusters of tube worms.
It turned out they had stumbled upon a whale fall, the remains of a whale that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean after dying. These carcasses become food sources for deep-sea creatures, sometimes supporting entire communities.
A Strange Discovery Beneath The Mud
At first glance, the strange patch didn’t look like much. Just a bunch of thin worms standing upright from the seabed, almost like tiny hairs growing out of the mud. But it was different enough from the surrounding area to catch the researchers’ attention. They moved the ROV closer and lowered its scoop into the sediment. Almost immediately, a thick black cloud burst upward, blocking the cameras for a moment.
When the cloud cleared, the team could make out worms, small marine creatures, and something they hadn’t expected: pieces of bone and teeth. Black clouds like this can appear when there’s a lot of decomposing organic material buried in the seafloor. They’re often linked to bacterial growth and heavy oxygen consumption.
The ROV collected a sample and brought it back to the surface. That’s when the scientists got a better look at what they’d found. There were several whale teeth and bones, including some dark fragments that might have been ear bones.
According to a MAREANO expedition diary published in May, the team wore gas masks as a precaution while examining the sample, although the smell wasn’t as bad as they’d feared.
“We really felt like true archaeologists – like the Indiana Jones of the deep sea!” they wrote.
A Feast On The Ocean Floor
Here’s the strange thing about a whale fall: one animal’s death can become a food source for an entire underwater community. When a whale dies and sinks to the seafloor, its body starts breaking down. The flesh and bones provide nutrients for marine organisms living in the deep ocean. At the Norwegian site, scientists found Notomastus worms and Saduria crustaceans among the remains.
These whale graves do more than feed nearby animals. They help recycle carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus, while also supporting a wider variety of marine species. Whale falls can even act as stepping stones, helping certain organisms spread between different parts of the deep ocean. As the MAREANO researchers put it:
“These observations serve as a powerful reminder that even seemingly unremarkable deep-sea landscapes can occasionally host extraordinary events such as whale falls.”
The tricky part is finding them. Whale bones can disappear beneath layers of sediment, leaving little evidence of the activity going on underneath. That’s exactly what happened in the Arctic.
What Else Is Hiding Down There?
The ocean floor contains valuable minerals, but it is also home to fragile habitats that scientists are still struggling to understand. Some of these ecosystems are almost impossible to detect from above, making them particularly vulnerable to human activities. A buried whale fall is a striking example. Without the unusual patch of worms, the Norwegian researchers might never have discovered the remains hidden beneath the sediment.
The risks are not merely theoretical. During a 2017 expedition off Australia, a natural whale fall was disturbed by trawling at a depth of approximately 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). Such incidents highlight how easily human activities can affect deep-sea ecosystems before researchers have had the opportunity to study them.
“These rare inputs of organic matter sustain highly specialized and often transient communities, whose dispersal, distribution, ecological roles, and connectivity across the deep ocean remain largely unexplored,” stated MAREANO.
Scientists still have much to learn about the organisms that depend on these underwater food sources, how they disperse, and how distant habitats remain connected.
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