Razoray,
I just discovered that the idea I was referring to already exists as a technical term:
Marine snow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is indeed a source of food for benthic life.
My interest in this, concerning this thread, is that "marine snow" somewhat defines the kind and volume of native life at the bottom, and by consequence probably the degree of conservation of the bodies of the dead pax and crew.
Thank you for your time.
=================================================
This is just fascinating:
Whale fall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia