The plot thickens.
Obviously the Swirly Hats aren't dead, so I wonder what could be going on with them. My best guess would be it has to deal with Jack in some capacity. Perhaps like Moriah, he can steal something from people. I wouldn't be surprised if he could steal souls, so that's why they seem dead. We will probably get to them next week, and they determine that because of the lack of decay, they are somehow not dead. This could play well for Brook, as he can control his soul and perhaps he can make it back. If this is the case, it would coincide with Luffy making it there. That or they saw Brook as a skeleton and the rest unconscious, and assumed they were all dead. It could be another stealing something fruit, as in the Thriller Bark arc was Moriah, which had the mist, and we have mist in this arc as well.
Liked seeing various looking members of the Mink Tribe. So far we have a Gorilla, Canine, Rabbit, and Bull. A Bear as well as Bepo is confirmed being a part of the tribe as well. Seeing Carrot jump high into the sky was pretty cool, and her just slipping onto the crocodile was amusing. Here's another theory I considered with the whole soul aspect. What if the various crew's souls are in the minkmen. We have four characters, and a mysterious one, which would total 5 of the 6 that where with the Swirly Hats (Chopper, Nami, Brook, Sanji, Ceasar, and Momo). Seeing Carrot doing the jump in the height could be foreshadowing that Sanji's Soul is inside her. Having Nami's clothes on could mean Nami's Soul is in her.
Looks like Jack might be the main antagonist of this arc. He may have gotten Doflamingo, or somehow heard about Luffy going to Zou and decided to pursue him instead. That, or he accomplished his initial goal and from there decided to head back to Zou to finish what he started. He would know that the Swirly Hats were there, and if Doflamingo was defeated, he could go back to Zou to find the others. He would then be able find the other Samurai at least to get information out of them. If SheepHead and the others were under Jack, that probably means that Jack is under Kaido.
Nice little chapter overall. Had some nice atmosphere and art, and I love the Whale Tree for some reason.