These fallen whales provide deep sea ecosystems with a concentrated food source that can last for quite a while and feed deep sea microbes and larger scavengers like crabs, octopus, eels, and more. Even when the whale’s soft tissue is gone, its organic components — like decomposing cartilage — can enrich the sediment around it for months or even years. The whale’s skeleton also provide solid settling areas for invertebrate colonies... And possibly, the previous owner of the carcass itself, creating a kind of a draugr of it's own.