Whale Fall
WHALE FALL by Tim Griffin 2022
Down at the bottom of the sea there’s not a lot to eat
All the creatures are hungry and cold
A sleeper shark is dreaming of a tasty treat
And of a whale way above getting old
Up on the surface a cetacean takes a final breath
Then it sinks and passes away
But down in the darkness an old whale’s death
Is gonna bring a brighter day
They’re waiting for the whale fall (la la la)
Everybody gonna gather in joy and love
Of the whale fall (la la la)
When a mountain of food falls from up above
Now the sleeper shark is wide awake, biting through the skin
Tearing off big chunks of meat
And all the hagfish are happily burrowing in
Because they seldom have so much to eat
The mobile scavengers will dine for a year or more
Before only a skeleton remains
What a fine fiesta for the carnivores
Down on the abyssal plain
There’s no complaining on the whale fall (la la la)
Everybody gonna gather in joy and love
Of the whale fall (la la la)
When a mountain of food falls from up above
Now there’s a great big skeleton, still good to eat
For the creatures who can process the bones
The many molluscs, crustaceans, and polychaetes (pronouced “polly-keets”)
Down in the locker of old Davy Jones
Sulfophilic bacteria slowly digest
All the lipids that are locked inside
All the creatures of the deep are deeply blessed
By the body of a whale that died
They’re all excited by the whale fall (la la la)
Everybody gonna gather in joy and love
Of the whale fall (la la la)
When a mountain of food falls from up above
After decades of feeding the abyssal friends
There are no nutrients left in the bones
But the dead whale’s usefulness does not end
Because it still provides a fine home
All the sessile organisms find the substrate they need
To survive on the abyssal plain
All the little filter feeders are happy indeed
To be living on the whale’s remains
They’re staying on the whale fall (la la la)
Everybody gonna gather in joy and love
Of the whale fall (la la la)
When a mountain of food falls from up above
Whale fall (la la la)
Benthic beasties with tentacles, teeth, and claws
Love the whale fall (la la la)
And they’ll be waiting on the bottom with open jaws…
For you.
Notes
A pillar of any healthy ecosystem is decomposition, the process of breaking down dead organisms and returning their components to the environment for use by other organisms. Death is always sad, especially for beloved animals such as whales; but it is important to understand that one organism's death makes life possible for others, especially in a nutrient-poor biome such as a deep sea where there is no sunlight. Nonetheless, the subject matter here is a little creepy so teachers and parents, please use your judgment.
Here are some academic content standards from the NGSS addressed by this song:
Third Grade:
3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
3.LS3.B.2: Variation of Traits. The environment affects the traits that an organism develops.
Fourth Grade:
4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
CC 4.LS1-2. A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.
Fifth Grade:
5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
LS2.A. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life.
Middle School:
MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
MS-LS1-7. Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
For more information about how a whale fall works, check out NOAA's page about it.
Chords: C, G, G7, C7, F
Note from Tim: I am grateful to marine biologist Dr. Mary Voytek for her helpful advice and suggested revisions to this song. Any remaining errors are, of course, my own.