鲸鱼不会死在海底

Whales Never Die on the Ocean Floor 鲸鱼不会死在海底

Their calls can be haunting. Their size can take your breath away. And their worlds are dark and quiet.

Whales!

There are many different species of these huge, warm-blooded, air breathing mammals that live in the sea. There is the blue whale and the killer¹ whale, humpback and orca, just to name a few.

According to several science websites, whales live a long time. There are many different species of whales and each has a different lifespan. The average lifespan, however, is about 50 years.

In the wild whales live for a long time. Bowhead whales spend their lives in the cold Arctic waters. They may be the world’s oldest mammals, living possibly more than 200 years!

As they lived, these giants of the sea die big. Before gases develop in the body, or carcass, of a dead whale it sinks to the ocean floor. This is called a “whale fall” and it supplies room and board, in other words food and shelter, to thousands of ocean creatures for many decades.

Scientists have only recently discovered just how many species live in a whale fall. This is mostly because whale falls are difficult to find in the ocean. It is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, as we like to say.

The first stage

The smell of the dead whale brings the first stage of feeders – the traveling, or mobile, scavengers. A wide variety of fish and sharks come from miles and miles to scavenge the dead whale’s soft flesh or tissue. This phase can last as short as several months to as long as two years.

As you can imagine, these first stage scavengers are messy eaters. Their feeding frenzies³ leave a thick layer of pieces of the whale, what scientists call biomaterial, on the sea floor. This is when the dinner bell rings for the second stage scavengers.

The second stage

During the second stage of decomposition⁴ strange creatures appear. Shrimp-like creatures, crustaceans⁶ such as crabs⁸ and mollusks eat the small pieces of whale tissue that have dropped to the ocean floor.

Hairy worms are also part of this stage. They feed on the whale bones making the whale carcass look like a carpet – a moving, living carpet. This phase can last up to two years.

The third stage

The third and final stage is the longest. It can last for decades. The flesh of the whale has long been eaten. But even the bones support life.

As the whale bones decay, they produce sulfide, a type of gas. This gas supports a rich variety of life. Worms, mussels and several types of clams¹⁰ live off the gas that the whale bones give off.

Researchers found more than 30,000 animals totaling more than 200 species on one, single whale skeleton. Scientists who have studied the life of a whale fall found that the community of life and rare species of this final stage is larger than any known community on the deep seafloor.

Words in This Story

carcass – n. the body of a dead animal

room and board – n. a place to stay with meals provided and included in the price

decay – v. to be slowly destroyed by natural processes : to be slowly broken down by the natural processes that destroy a dead plant or body

a needle in a haystack – idiomatic¹¹ expression : something that is impossible or extremely difficult to find especially because the area you have to search is too large

scavenger² – n. an organism (as a vulture or hyena) that usually feeds on dead or decaying matter

feeding frenzy¹² – n. a state of wild activity in which the animals in a group are all trying to eat something

crustacean⁵ – n. biology : a type of animal (such as a crab⁷ or lobster) that has several pairs of legs and a body made up of sections that are covered in a hard outer shell

mollusk⁹ – n. biology : any one of a large group of animals (such as snails¹³ and clams) that have a soft body without a backbone¹⁴ and that usually live in a shell

decompose¹⁵ – v. to cause something (such as dead plants and the bodies of dead animals) to be slowly destroyed and broken down by natural processes, chemicals, etc.

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 scavenger   

n.以腐尸为食的动物，清扫工

参考例句：

• He's just fit for a job as scavenger.他只配当个清道夫。
• He is not a scavenger nor just a moving appetite as some sharks are.它不是食腐动物，也不像有些鲨鱼那样，只知道游来游去满足食欲。

3 frenzies   

狂乱( frenzy的名词复数 )； 极度的激动

参考例句：

4 decomposition   

n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃

参考例句：

• It is said that the magnetite was formed by a chemical process called thermal decomposition. 据说这枚陨星是在热分解的化学过程中形成的。
• The dehydration process leads to fairly extensive decomposition of the product. 脱水过程会导致产物相当程度的分解。

5 crustacean   

n.甲壳动物；adj.甲壳纲的

参考例句：

• Seafood is a valuable lobster crustacean section.名贵海珍品龙虾属甲壳科。
• The illustrious Cuvier did not perceive that a barnacle was a crustacean.大名鼎鼎的居维叶也未看出藤壶是一种甲壳动物。

6 crustaceans   

n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句

7 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

8 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 mollusk   

n.软体动物

参考例句：

• I swear I have never seen such a mollusk with thorns all over its body.我敢发誓我从来没有见过这种全身长满棘刺的软体动物。
• The colour varies with the mollusk and its environment.颜色因母体及其环境的不同而异。

10 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

11 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。

12 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

13 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

15 decompose   

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐败，（使）腐烂

参考例句：

• The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
• Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。