Whale Fall, Bigfoots, and the Scientific Community 22-31

Bigfoot_by_chrisscalfWhale fall is scientific jargon for a whale’s carcass. They are extremely rare. Bigfoot carcasses are even more rare. Why don’t scientists go looking for this very special ape seen by thousands of credible people over the years?

In 2013 researchers from the University of Southhampton, Natural History Museum, British Antarctic Survey, National Oceanography Centre (NOC), and Oxford University announced in a scientific paper that they had found the first ever whale skeleton in Antarctica. (Bigfoot artwork right by artist Chris Calf.)

Until that time only six other whale skeletons had ever been found on the seafloor.  The 2013 whale fall was located a mile under the Antarctic sea in a deep crater. Also of interest, the scientists discovered nine new species of animals living off of the carcass.

WhaleFall04According to researcher and lead author of the paper Diva Amon, “The planet’s largest animals are also a part of the ecology of the very deep ocean, providing a rich habitat of food and shelter for deep sea animals for many years after their death. Examining the remains of this southern  Minke whale [photo left] gives insight into how nutrients are recycled in the ocean, which may be a globally important process in our oceans.”

The scientists estimate this latest carcass to be decades old. (Photo below of whale skeleton found on the floor of the Antarctic Ocean, courtesy of Science Daily.)

WhaleFallUKNatlEnviroResearchCouncilConsortium

Co-author Dr. Jon Copley said, “At the moment, the only way to find a whale fall is to navigate right over one with an underwater vehicle. We were just finishing a dive with the UK’s remotely operated vehicle, Isis, when we glimpsed a row of pale-coloured blocks in the distance, which turned out to be whale vertebrae on the seabed.”

WhaleFall05The scientists explained that when a whale dies, its remains sink to the ocean floor. Similar to what happens on land, scavengers descend and devour a lot of it. Eventually organisms colonize the skeleton and continue to feed from it. The fat stored in the whale bones is “broken down” by bacteria and that substance is later eaten by other marine animals. Also lurking in the water are creatures called zombie worms (Osedax antarcticus) that actually digest the whale bone (one of the new species found there). (Photo right of zombie worms.)

So it seems every little bit of those carcasses is recycled until nothing is left of it.

Bigfoot Remains

Here is a less than 5 minute video showing how quickly an animal as large as a deer decomposes in the wild. If the embed stops working, follow the link below it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBeMTy0N48A

This fast decomposition could happen just as quickly to a big hairy ape. If there are any bones left, porcupines may take them and hide them in a cave or similar nook. Why do I say that? Because that’s where scientists found the teeth and jaws of Gigantopithecus blacki – in a cave in China, left there millennia ago by industrious porcupines.

BigfootPeteBarbarThen we have to consider the possibility that the Bigfoot bury their dead. I’ve heard quite a few Bigfoot hunters who claim this is true. But I have to wonder, if they saw a Bigfoot grave, why didn’t they try to obtain some DNA?

If we look to the animal kingdom, we see evidence among species for a sort of ritual associated with the death of their kinsmen.  Gorillas, chimpanzees, baboons, macaques, lemurs, and geladas have been observed by scientists performing death rituals.

Since Bigfoot would be a species we’d consider more evolved than these other apes, why couldn’t it have taken the extra leap of faith and started burying their dead?

Step Up to the Plate

Well, whether they bury them or not, they’re going to rot fast out in nature. And either way, we are still left seeking evidence for this tantalizing creature that many of us believe is real.

What I wish is that a scientific organization or community somewhere would put their money where their mouth is and set off in search of these amazing great apes.

WhaleFallFrogAre they so adamant that these animals don’t exist? Then let me share this tidbit from today. In the Smithsonian magazine article by Danny Lewis yesterday, we learn that scientists in India found a frog that was thought to be extinct for 150 years! It’s called the Jerdon’s Tree Frog (Frankixalus jerdonii) and is about as small as a golf ball. (Photo right.)

Science was so sure it was extinct, then Presto Change-o, it reappears again proving it had never been gone, just hiding.

There are lots of things still hiding in our world today. And I firmly believe Bigfoot is one of them.

What do you think about all this?

References

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120919-respect-the-dead

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130318104953.htm

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-rediscover-tree-frog-thought-extinct-over-century-180957902/?utm_source=facebook.com&no-ist

 

 

 

 

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