The decomposition of the whale enriches the sediment.
When a whale dies, it falls to the ocean floor. Its dead body is known as whale-fall. This whale-fall provides nutrients for a whale-fall community, which includes bacteria, crabs, worms and other invertebrates. Organic fragments from the whale-fall enrich the sediments nearby. Enrichment opportunists colonize the whalebone and surrounding sediment in order to feed on these organic fragments.