Deep-sea whale carcasses host diverse marine ecosystems in Indian Ocean
Scientists have mapped a 5.3-million-year-old whale graveyard 23,000 feet below the Indian Ocean, finding a rich community of organisms living on the remains.
Researchers using deep-sea submersibles in 2023 identified a whale necropolis in the southeastern Indian Ocean, the deepest and oldest of its kind discovered so far. The site, located up to 23,000 feet (7 km) below the surface, contains five whale carcasses, including skulls of beaked and baleen species, with bones dating back about 5.3 million years.
The massive bones provide a long-lasting substrate that supports a variety of marine life, from jellyfish and tubeworms to sea cucumbers, squat lobsters and brittle stars. Many of the organisms observed have not been previously documented, according to a study published in Nature.
"The potential number of specimens is just astounding," said paleontologist Stephen Godfrey of the Calvert Marine Museum, who was not involved in the research.
"Studying the whale graveyards is important for understanding how life can adapt to such extreme conditions, not only due to the lack of light and oxygen but also to the incredibly high pressure," explained study co-author Giovanni Bianucci, a paleontologist at the University of Pisa.
Biologist Xikun Song of the Chinese Academy of Sciences noted that the combination of bone density, mineral coating from seawater and the great depth—shielding the remains from sediment burial—helped preserve the skeletons for millions of years. The authors suggest that the V-shaped topography of the area may have funneled whale bodies into the site, and that some whales likely died of natural causes while others may have succumbed to stress from deep-sea diving.
