My class at school wants to know what happens to the whales when they die
out in the ocean. Do they float around in the ocean like fish do when they
Thank you very much.
Jenny Kramer, Northbridge Elementary School
The bodies of dead whales usually sink to the bottom, although they may
temporarily rise to the surface when gases build up and float the carcass.
Unless they float to a beach, they ultimately sink, where they attract a
wide variety of organisms large and small which consume the body, in the
process creating a thriving ecosystem for weeks or months.
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