090 Feeding Long After
Hey Whale, when you die you sink, and the floor of the sea feeds on you for decades.
What of ours will still be feeding anyone that long?
What of yours will still be feeding anyone long after you are gone?
Far out at sea, a great whale dies. Slowly, it sinks into the dark.
At the bottom, kilometres down, a whole new world of life gathers around it.
What really happens
When a whale dies and sinks to the deep sea floor, it becomes a 'whale fall'.
Scavengers, worms, bacteria and many other creatures feed on it, and a single whale fall can support life for decades.
How we know: Craig Smith and colleagues have studied whale falls for decades, finding communities lasting many years.
The turn
Most of us think about what we gain in our lifetime.
The whale keeps feeding others long after it is gone.
Three takeaways
- Legacy is what keeps feeding others.
- Give in ways that outlast you.
- Even your ending can be a gift.
Feed the deep, long after.
To live in hearts we leave behind / Is not to die.