Whale Fall Café by Jacquie Sewell (review)

Where do whales go when they die? Down. As they make their ponderous descent to the ocean floor, fish nibble at the passing repast. And when they hit bottom, much worse for wear, the benthic creatures that usually subsist on the flakes of decomposed matter that drift down as “marine snow” enjoy a truly munificent feast, consuming the good stuff right down to the skeleton. The next diners to arrive are Osedax worms and their bacteria sucking the bones dry of any remaining fats and proteins. Done yet? Not quite; the carcass that provided nutrition is now a structure that shelters sea floor colonies for centuries to come. Sewell takes a wry view of all this post-mortem activity, mindful of the considerable grossout factor, but she’s also hyper-aware of her audience’s desire to be in the know on this arcane phenomena that is just beginning to be researched and understood. Therefore, she snarkily peppers her text with terms for sophisticates (references to dinner “seatings”), domain-specific words defined both in text and a glossary for smarty pants (benthic is the lowest water level; Osedax are bone eaters), and monikers anyone would be proud to slip into a conversation (“zombie worms, which are also called bone-eating snot worms”). Tavis gets the humor, cartooning the diners with obvious gusto, but he also makes the concepts of life at varying sea levels clear and memorable, even salvaging a bit of dignity for the deceased, whose death assures life in the deep. End matter includes thumbnail info bites on some of the featured marine life, as well as current research on whale falls. Young whale enthusiasts will lap this up, and primary-grade science teachers will have the crown jewel of the next marine life unit.