Whale Fall

October 15, 2011 1:28 PM

Whale Fall (after life of a whale). A video compliment to Radiolab's 'Loops' episode. [Via]
posted by homunculus (18 comments total)

Oh wow, is this ever gorgeous. The whole time I was watching it I was thinking about how amazing people are, that someone (or a group of someones) would spend so much time making this filmlet about something as obscure as the death of a whale. This is beautiful, and thank you for posting it.
posted by nevercalm at 1:41 PM on October 15, 2011

People who like whales should check out Leviathan, by Philip Hoare. It is packed with fascinating whale information and immensely readable. The author has a website with various jumping off-points to reviews and interviews about the book and it's collection of whale-lore.
posted by The River Ivel at 1:44 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

I also plan to support a community of living organisms 50 - 75 years after my death - FROM BEYOND.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 2:34 PM on October 15, 2011

Beautiful.
posted by afx237vi at 2:37 PM on October 15, 2011

Just lovely.

...And as a bonus, it interlinks most wonderfully with my childhood memories of the song "Think About Your Troubles" by Nilsson.
posted by arm's-length at 2:48 PM on October 15, 2011

Previously and also from that episode.
posted by eyeballkid at 3:34 PM on October 15, 2011

Is this where we talk about scientists dropping mammals to the bottom of the ocean to see what happens?

Here's video of pigs at the bottom of the Saanich Inlet and the Georgia Straight in BC. [awesome put graphic video of pigs being eaten by crabs and sharks]

University of Victoria researchers wanted to learn how a human would decompose, so they used pigs instead.
posted by auto-correct at 3:54 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]

If humans were an aquatic species, imagine what deities whales would be.
posted by oneironaut at 3:54 PM on October 15, 2011

Whale Takes Australian Couple On Wild Boat Ride
posted by homunculus at 4:34 PM on October 15, 2011

So, you mean, when whales die, they don't just go far from the reach of photosynthesis
posted by jefflowrey at 4:47 PM on October 15, 2011

Here's a dead humpback whale in Nova Scotia. We interrupted a couple of turkey vultures who were feeding on it. It smelled pretty much how it looks.
posted by Flashman at 4:48 PM on October 15, 2011

More on dead whales.
posted by Danf at 5:29 PM on October 15, 2011

Oh crap. . .bad link. . mods, can you delete the above comment?
posted by Danf at 5:30 PM on October 15, 2011

University of Victoria researchers wanted to learn how a human would decompose, so they used pigs instead.

You believed them when they said that? I suppose you've taken them up on their "moonlight boat ride" offer, too. Can I have your account when you no longer need it?

OK, in all seriousness, this is really clever and pretty (I especially liked the hagfish and its mucous). I kind of wish there was a narration with more details, but I guess I can look that up myself. Planet Earth or Blue Planet had a good episode about the life cycle of the various creatures and bacteria that feed off of dead whales which was pretty great. The bacteria stain the ocean floor a light color, so it looked like a huge chalk outline around the skeleton, like a world-weary crab detective was going to come and look at the scene.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:32 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

COMPLEMENT, not "compliment". [/pedant]

It's a lovely film and thanks for posting.
posted by jokeefe at 9:22 PM on October 15, 2011

Thanks for this. I love the music especially, and thanks to Spotify, I can listen to more from Rachel's! (Spotify link if you've got it installed)

*Not a paid shill, I've just been really loving Spotify lately.
posted by m0nm0n at 10:03 PM on October 15, 2011

"Oh no, not again."

Will no one think of the petunias?
posted by Eideteker at 5:41 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Whale, Dolphin Deaths Twice Normal in Gulf
posted by homunculus at 1:30 PM on October 21, 2011