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Scientists Discover a Deep Whale Graveyard that Is Teeming with Life
- Scientists exploring the Diamantina Fracture Zone discovered a massive whale graveyard containing nearly 500 fossilized remains, the largest collection ever found. Researchers operating the Fendouzhe submersible documented the site across a 1,200-kilometer stretch of the ocean floor.
- Whale bones at these depths resist degradation because they are dense and coated in minerals, preventing bone-eating worms from destroying them. The Diamantina Zone's V-shaped topography acts as a funnel, concentrating sinking carcasses into this unique, millions-year-old fossil archive.
- Feeding on these carcasses, researchers found thriving ecosystems of jellyfish, tubeworms, and brittle stars, alongside undocumented species. These organisms rely on chemical-eating microbes similar to those found at hydrothermal vents, rather than sunlight, to power their existence.
- Deep-Sea scientist Xiaotong Peng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences stated these findings "reshape the understanding" of whale-fall ecosystems. Paleontologist Stephen Godfrey of the Calvert Marine Museum likened this rare, growing fossil bed to previous major discoveries.
- Some bones recovered from the site date back 5.3 million years, providing a record of cetacean evolution long before humans emerged. This fossil archive offers researchers a rare glimpse into deep-sea history preserved at extreme depths.
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A team of researchers from China, Italy and New Zealand used a submarine to explore an area of trenches and ridges in the southeastern Indian Ocean, known as the Diamantina Zone, which formed 50-60 million years ago as the continents of Australia and Antarctica drifted apart.
A huge whale cemetery discovered in the southeast of the Indian Ocean is the deepest, most extensive and ancient known. The necropolis, which could gather up to 10 million...
·Madrid, Spain
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At a depth of 7,000 metres, scientists encounter some millions of years old skeletons. The area extends over 1200 kilometres and contains the remains of whales from several epochs. Among them are bones of extinct whale species.
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Total News Sources51
Leaning Left13Leaning Right8Center22Last UpdatedBias Distribution51% Center
Bias Distribution
- 51% of the sources are Center
51% Center
L 30%
C 51%
R 19%
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