Where are whale falls typically found?

            Where are Whale falls typically found?  Whale falls are typically found in two places, along whale migratory routes and around feeding areas (Smith and Baco 2003).  Typically whale feeding areas include upwelling regions such as off the coast of California.  Knowledge of where whales migrate and feed predicts potentially whale fall localities.  Therefore, whale falls can be predicted on the continental shelf and in the deep ocean.

            Because whale falls can be found in the deep ocean and on the continental shelf, whale falls deliver nutrients to all different depths.  Most discovered whale falls are restricted to shallower depths (<2000 m) because of biases against exploring the deepsea (money, logistics, depth).  However, new discoveries by Goffredi et al. (2004) have pushed whale falls to nearly 3000 meters.  We believe that more whale falls would be discovered even deeper if more of the deep sea could be covered because whales migrate over deep parts of the ocean (see figure of upwellings combined with whale migration routs).  The depth determines community structure; the deeper the whale fall, the fewer macroscopic taxa (Goffredi et al. 2004).