A dead whale is more than a rotting mass of flesh and bone. In the deep sea, the descent of a leviathan is a fortuitous bonanza for the battalions of scavengers which gradually break down the cetacean’s body. And, for as long as the body lasts, the whale becomes a little island of diversity in the deep – a temporary deconstruction site where the remains of one life are distributed among the many.

But whales may only be the latest creatures to so enrich the sea floor. Long before whales, the carcasses of marine crocodiles, sea turtles, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs settled on the bottom. (Even the occasional dinosaur carcass floated out into deep