A 5.3-million-year-old whale necropolis stretches 1,200 km across the Indian Ocean floor
A 5.3M-year-old deep-sea whale necropolis in the Diamantina Zone
Researchers discovered a vast whale necropolis in the Diamantina Zone, southeastern Indian Ocean, at depths of 4,616 to 7,001 meters. The 1,200-kilometer stretch contains five modern whale-fall communities and 476 fossil cetaceans, including extinct beaked whales. Isotopic dating shows whale falls have occurred there for at least 5.3 million years. The site hosts specialized fauna like brittle stars, bone-eating Osedax worms, and chemosynthetic bivalves, with local densities up to 2,840 individuals per square meter. Many species may be new to science.
These findings reshape the understanding of the limits and biogeography of whale-fall ecosystems and establish some deep sea floors as a fossil archive for tracing cetacean evolution over geological time.