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[ ♩ INTRO ]
The deep sea is the largest ecosystem on Earth,
and one of the most inhospitable.
~
Its frigid water and bone-crushing pressure make it not only extremely hard to /live/
in,
but also hard to /study/.
Scientists don’t even have a complete picture of what creatures live down there,
or how they survive.~
But one team of biologists found a creative way to explore some of these questions…
with the help of three dead alligators.
Dead stuff is an important part of the deep-sea diet.
That’s largely because no sunlight reaches down there, so plants don’t grow.~
And the vastness of the deep sea means that it can be a /while/
before a hungry creature finds a living thing to eat.
So, many deep-sea creatures are /scavengers/, feeding
on dead plants and animals that sink down to the sea floor.
For example, fallen whales become a smorgasbord for all /kinds/ of deep-sea life.
They’re /so/ large and take /so long/ to eat that creatures actually
set up camp on the carcass
and transform the whale’s body into its own whole ecosystem while they feast.
Studying these scavengers in action is a great way
to explore the inhabitants of the deep sea.
So, scientists have dropped the carcasses of various animals, like whales, dolphins,
and even /cows/, into the ocean to study the creatures that come and eat them.
All this led one Louisiana biologist to wonder if dead /alligators/ might be an important
part of the food chain deep in the Gulf of Mexico.
Even though alligators live in freshwater rivers,
those rivers all eventually lead to the ocean.
Researchers have observed plenty of gators
making their way to the Gulf, dead /and/ alive.~
And alligators may not be the size of /whales/,
but they can still tip the scales at hundreds of kilograms.
So their carcasses could make a hearty feast on the seafloor.
So, the biologist worked with a team of other researchers to design a study.
Their plan was to drop some alligator carcasses into the Gulf
and see how things played out on the seafloor.
They were interested in seeing how an ecosystem
that’s often starved for resources
would react to the arrival of an /alligator carcass/.
~
Past studies had mostly been done with the carcasses of /marine mammals/.
So the team was curious if deep sea creatures
might also rely on these non-marine reptiles
as a source of food.
Even considering that alligators are covered in tough armor.
They were also interested in seeing what sort of animals showed up to dine.
And if these scavengers would just feast and take off,
or if they’d turn the alligator into a long-term habitat, just like a fallen whale.
So, in 2019, in the name of science,
the research team tied weights onto three dead alligators
and dumped them into the Gulf of Mexico.
~
The researchers visited the carcasses several times over the next two months,
using a remotely operated vehicle with a camera attached,
so they could watch the feast unfold.
~
And a /diverse/ array of deep sea creatures showed up.
Larger scavengers turned up first, including crustaceans known as isopods.
They’re related to those roly-poly bugs that are common in gardens…
except they’re bigger than your average Chihuahua.
Some of these larger creatures were lucky enough to be nearby when the feast arrived,
and as they dug in,
their feeding activities likely alerted other animals in the area.
Gradually, other creatures drifted in.
By the end, the dinner guests ranged
from those giant isopods to tiny bone-eating worms.
The researchers found that the scavengers
did /not/ seem to care that the gators were covered in armored hide.
They were edible, and that was good enough for them.
They got through the alligators’ tough skin easily enough and had their feast.
These animals ate quickly enough that the alligators
didn’t become the hosts of entire ecosystems, like whales do.~
But, considering how many Louisiana alligators /may/ end up in the Gulf,
it’s possible that these animals are an important food source on the seafloor.
The researchers also speculated
that while most deep-sea creatures are used to eating /marine/ carcasses,
alligators might not be such an unusual feast for them.
Many of the creatures found scavenging carcasses in the deep sea evolved /millions/ of years
ago,
when marine /reptiles/, not marine mammals, were common in the ocean.
So they may have actually /evolved/ to eat the bodies of reptiles.~
In areas around the world where alligators or other large reptiles are common,
this study suggests that these reptiles are an important part of the marine food chain.
This understanding also helps scientists make predictions
about how the climate crisis will affect the inhabitants of the deep sea.
As the ocean warms, acidifies, and rises, marine ecosystems will change,
and the type of life that finds its way to the seafloor may change too.~
So, the better we understand the creatures that live in depths of the ocean,
the better we can understand the impacts on them.
For now, whatever changes come, this type of research gives us rare insights into one
of the most unknown places on our planet.
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[ ♩ OUTRO ]