Rosebud Whale Fall

This is the phtogrammetric reconstruction of a whale fall that was sunk near San Diego, California. This unfortunate Fin Whale was 23 meters long and pregnant when she was struck by a passing cargo ship in 2011. The strike broke her back resulting in the death of both her and her offspring. Scientists recovered her body from a beach and towed it out to sea, where they used nearly 8 tons of steel weight to sink her. Rosebuds remains offer an ideal way to study the organisms and bacteria that help breakdown organic matter at the bottom of the ocean. Several red Osedax communities (bone eating worms) are still present on the bones nearly a decade after she was sunk.