Indian Ocean Discovery Reveals Five Million-Year-Old Whale Graveyard in Diamantina Fracture Zone
A colossal whale graveyard, extending approximately 1,200km (745 miles) across the south-eastern Indian Ocean, has been discovered. The site, situated 7km (four miles) deep within the Diamantina fracture zone, a region of underwater ridges and trenches, has yielded remains some 5.3 million years old.
The underwater necropolis, found by a research team comprising scientists from China, Italy, and New Zealand, contains numerous organisms and species potentially new to science, according to the journal Nature.
Xiaotong Peng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the study's authors, stated: "Discovering a necropolis of this scale was completely unexpected. The size of distribution, the depth, and the age range were far beyond anything we had imagined."
During 32 exploratory dives, samples were collected from 485 whale-fossil sites and active whale falls. Discoveries included an extinct whale's skeleton, identified as the beaked
Jellyfish, worms, and crustaceans form part of the ecosystem thriving on the extensive spread of carcasses. Stephen J. Godfrey of the Calvert Marine Museum, writing in Nature, described the discovery as "truly unique," noting its potential for further significant findings despite limited accessibility, which he anticipates will inspire additional submersible expeditions in similar environments.
