A whale fall is the carcass of a cetacean that has fallen into the Bathyal or Abyssal zone on the ocean floor. As they are found at depths of , they create complex localized ecosystems that supply sustenance to deep-sea organisms for decades. This is unlike in shallower waters, where a whale carcass will be consumed by scavengers over a relatively short period of time. It was with the development of deep-sea robotic exploration that whale falls were first observed in the late 1970s.