Mainline Freight in an Eocene New Zealand turtle bone indicates that these animals evolved before whales, including possibly inhabiting Mesozoic (251–66 MYA) reptiles. They may have survived in seeps, wood-falls and vents while waiting out the 20 million year gap between the reptiles' extinction and whales' emergence. Another possibility is that these fossils represent a prior, dead-end evolutionary path, and that today's whale fall animals evolved independently. Anthropogenic effects. It has been suggested that the whaling industry has had an effect on the biological pump through the elimination of many large whales, reducing the amount of whale falls. The 	Whale fall
17208249	effects of this on benthic whale fall community assemblages is not well understood. However, it is suggested that the removal of large whales might have reduced the total biomass of the deep sea by more than 30%. Whales stored massive amounts of carbon that were exported to the deep sea during whale fall events. Whaling has thus also reduced the ability of the deep sea to sequester carbon. Carbon can be sequestered for hundreds to thousands of years in the deep sea, supporting benthic communities. It is estimated that, in terms of carbon sequestration, each whale is equivalent to thousands 	Whale fall
17208250	of trees. Contrast with other large food-falls. There have also been studies based on the carcasses of other, non-mammalian marine vertebrates that have fallen to the deep sea. In particular, the chance discovery of a whale shark carcass and three mobulid ray carcasses led to observations on the communities that form surrounding large elasmobranch falls as opposed to whale falls. Whale sharks inhabit waters of roughly 1,000 meters depth regularly, which suggests it could be a regular form of food fall in areas where it is abundant. Many eelpouts (Zoarcidae) were found surrounding the whale shark with some 	Whale fall
17208251	evidence of direct feeding as boreholes were observed on the carcass. Another theory suggests that the eelpouts were waiting for their main prey, amphipods and other small benthic animals. The three rays found were at different stages of decomposition, leading to varying assemblages found surrounding the individuals. A higher abundance of scavengers was found surrounding the more intact individuals, including scavengers typical of whale falls like hagfish. Around the least intact individual a bacterial mat was observed in the zone of enrichment, but no clams or mussels typical of whale falls were seen. Overall, the four carcasses observed showed no 	Whale fall
17208252	evidence of progression past the scavenger stage. The size limitations, as well as physiological differences between large elasmobranchs and whales more than likely causes the changes observed in the communities surrounding their respective carcasses. Osedax worms have the ability to extract collagen from bones as well as lipids, enabling them to sustain themselves on bones other than the lipid-rich remains of whales. Although no Osedax were found on the non-mammalian remains in this study, their absence may have been due to the timing of observation, and the Osedax had not yet colonized the carcasses. Various studies on smaller 	Whale fall
17208253	cetaceans and other marine vertebrate food falls come to similar conclusions that these falls bring a large amount of new organic material to depth, but support mostly a scavenger community, as opposed to the diverse assemblage seen at whale falls. This conclusion can be drawn based on the knowledge that large whales have much higher lipid content in their bulk composition and bone marrow, which supports the diverse communities present in succession at whale falls. Researchers have compared sauropod carcasses to modern whale-fall events, recognizing that sauropods reached the size of modern cetaceans. Sauropod carcasses may have been energy 	Whale fall
17208254	rich reservoirs, and because they did not float great distances, may have been the primary resources of many terrestrial carnivorous dinosaurs. Whale fall A whale fall occurs when the carcass of a whale has fallen onto the ocean floor at a depth greater than , in the bathyal or abyssal zones. On the sea floor, these carcasses can 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. Whale falls were first observed in the late 	Whale fall
17208255	Mainline Freight Mainline Freight Mainline Freight was a trainload rail freight operator based in Islington, London, England with operations extending to Yorkshire in the north and Somerset in the west. It was formed from part of British Rail's Trainload Freight division as part of the privatisation of British Rail. Mainline Freight, Loadhaul and Transrail were purchased by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central in 1996 and amalgamated into a new company, English Welsh & Scottish. History. Mainline Freight was created in 1994 along with Transrail and Loadhaul as part of the broadly regional split of British Rail's Trainload Freight operations - Mainline 	Mainline Freight
17208256	Freight's centre of operations were South East England, and East Anglia, and the East Midlands. Three companies were created with the aim of promoting competition between the businesses. It was initially and briefly named Trainload Freight South East Limited" before being re-branded in September 1994. All three former Trainload Freight companies including Mainline Freight were acquired in February 1996 by 'North-South Railways': a company formed by a consortium led by US railroad company Wisconsin Central, for a combined total of £225.15million (approximately $349 million). The management of Mainline Freight, backed by Candover and Associated British  Ports also formed a bidding consortium for the three former Trainload Freight companies. The three companies together with Rail Express Systems were formed into a new company, English Welsh & Scottish (EWS). Fleet. Mainline Freight's fleet consisted of Class 08, Class 09, Class 31, Class 33, Class 37, Class 47, Class 58, Class 60 and Class 73 locomotives based at Toton, Stratford, Hither Green, Stewarts Lane and Eastleigh depots Livery. The company introduced a livery of 'aircraft blue' with a silver bodyside stripe, and "rolling wheels" logo with Mainline branding. Some locomotives (particularly the classes 33, 37, 58 and 60 ) retained the Trainload Freight two-tone grey livery but with the addition of the Mainline Freight logo. Mainline Freight Mainline Freight was a trainload rail freight operator based in Islington, London, England with operations extending to Yorkshire in the north and Somerset in the west. It was formed from part of British Rail's Trainload Freight division as part of the privatisation of British Rail. Mainline Freight, Loadhaul and Transrail were purchased by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central in 1996 and amalgamated into a new company, English Welsh & Scottish. History. Mainline Freight was created in 1994 along with Transrail