Whalefallsprovideasubstantial,nutrient-richresourceforspeciesinareasoftheoceanthatmay
otherwisebelargelydevoidoffood.Wereportthediscoveryofanaturalwhalefallat1430mdepth
in thecoldwatersofthecontinentalslopeoffthe westernAntarcticPeninsula.Thisisthehighest-
latitudewhalefallreportedtodate.Thesectionofthecarcassweobserved—the tail fluke—was
morecompletethananypreviouslyreportednaturalwhalefallfromthedeepseaandintheearly
stagesofdecomposition.Weestimatetheentirecetaceantomeasure5–8 minlength.The flesh
remainedalmostintactonthecarcassbuttheskinwasmissingfromtheentiresectionexceptfor
the endofthe fluke, clearlyexposingblubberandsofttissue.Theabsenceofskinindicatesrapidand
Homogeneousloss.Thedominantmacrofaunapresentwerecrustaceans,includingmostpromi-
nentlythelithodidcrab Paralomisbirsteini, andzoarcid fish typicalofthe ‘mobile-scavenger’
successionalstage.Thedensityofmobilemacrofaunawasgreatestonthecarcassanddeclinedto
backgroundlevelswithin100m,indicatingthattheywereattractedtothewhalefall.Thiswhalefall
offersanimportantopportunitytoexaminethe decompositionofacarcassunderdeep-sea
conditionsatpolarlatitudes