Return to "Francisco" Whale Fall

This is a photogrammetric reconstruction of a second visit to the Francisco whale fall research site in Monterey Bay. This particular area marks the final resting spot of a whale named by researchers as "Francisco." MBARI researchers have studied the succession of communities of animals that live on and around whale falls. Whale fall comminities consist of many animals that appear to be unique to deep-sea whale falls, and many are new to science. Although the animals appear in extremely large numbers, only a few different species are present. Learn more about this research at: https://www.mbari.org/whale-falls-islands-of-abundance-and-diversity-in-the-deep-sea/ Also viewable in this model is a deep sea camera system that is filming a time series on the break down of various animal bones at depth.