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Welcome to Science Talk, the weekly podcast of Scientific American, posted on February 10th, 2010.

I'm Steve Merski. When a whale dies at sea, what happens to the body?

This week on the podcast, Scientific American Editor-in-Chief Mariette de Christina talks about the long afterlife of whales, as well as other articles in the February issue.

We spoke in her office.

So Mariette.

Hi, Steve.

Whale Falls.

Why don't you explain what whale falls are? This article by a paleontologist at the University

of Leeds in England, Crispin Little, and whale falls are when whales actually fall.

They do not trip. They do not trip. These are dead whales. They actually, I imagine they fall

rather gracefully. After a period of time, you know, some whale surface and some don't,

but after a period of time, the carcasses begin to fall.

And they eventually land in areas of the ocean where there's not a lot around them,

and that's where it gets interesting.

It gets really interesting.

So way back in 1987, some researchers aboard the Alvin, which is a little research craft that has been many, actually a many-storied research craft because it's found some amazing things under the sea.

...