Whale falls provide a substantial, nutrient-rich resource for species in areas of the ocean that may
otherwise be largely devoid of food. We report the discovery of a natural whale fall at 1430 m depth
in the cold waters of the continental slope off the western Antarctic Peninsula. This is the highestlatitude
whale fall reported to date. The section of the carcass we observed—the tail fluke—was
more complete than any previously reported natural whale fall from the deep sea and in the early
stages of decomposition. We estimate the entire cetacean to measure 5–8 m in length. The flesh
remained almost intact on the carcass but the skin was missing from the entire section except for
the end of the fluke, clearly exposing blubber and soft tissue. The absence of skin indicates rapid and
Homogeneous loss. The dominant macrofauna present were crustaceans, including most prominently
the lithodid crab Paralomis birsteini, and zoarcid fish typical of the ‘mobile-scavenger’
successional stage. The density of mobile macrofauna was greatest on the carcass and declined to
background levels within 100 m, indicating that they were attracted to the whale fall. This whale fall
offers an important opportunity to examine the decomposition of a carcass under deep-sea
conditions at polar latitudes.