Fig 1.
The carcass platform with instruments mounted and carcasses tied in position before deployment.
Cage, trays, frame and camera system frame designed by Chris Sundstom, VENUS Instrument Platform (VIP) designed by Paul Macoun (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory).
Table 1.
Presence or absence of the major fauna on pig carcasses in fall and spring in Strait of Georgia at 300m.
F = fall, Sp = spring, Relative abundance for most species could only be estimated but is given as approximately x = 1–5, xx = 5–25, xxx = 25–100, xxxx = 100–1000, xxxxx = many 1000s.
Fig 2.
Amphipods (Orchomenella aff. obtusa (Sars, 1891), Lyssianassidae) colonization of carcasses, Days 0–2 after deployment, spring and fall (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory).
Fig 3.
Pandalus platyceros Brandt, 1851 (Three Spot Shrimp) being excluded from the carcass by encroaching layers of lyssianassid amphipods.
Day 2, spring deployment (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory).
Fig 4.
Progression of skeletonization in fall carcasses, Day 3 (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory).
Fig 5.
Progression of skeletonization and movement of amphipods on cage in spring carcasses, Day 4 (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory).
Fig 6.
Hundreds of Pandalus platyceros Brandt, 1851, on the bones in fall, Day 42 (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory)
Fig 7.
Cranium moved by Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister (Dana, 1852)) shows dark coloration on area previously protected by silt.
Day 100, spring deployment (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory).
Fig 8.
Daily averages of dissolved oxygen levels (mL/L), temperature (°C), salinity (psu), and turbidity (NTU) at a depth of 300 m in the Strait of Georgia in spring and fall (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory).
Fig 9.
Hourly dissolved oxygen levels (mL/L) at a depth of 300 m in the Strait of Georgia in spring and fall for the first 7 days, taken from Aanderaa optodes mounted on VIP-08, the carcass platform in spring and the carcass platform and VIP-11 in fall (Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory).