Scientists Map Vast Deep-Sea Whale Graveyard in Indian Ocean

Chinese scientists using a submersible discovered a 1,200-km corridor containing nearly 500 whale skeletons in the Diamantina Zone of the Indian Ocean at depths up to 7,000 m, CBS News reported. The find revealed extensive whale-fall ecosystems and included a previously unknown beaked-whale species, according to the report. This highlighted the presence of large, previously undocumented deep-sea habitats.

Later, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published a detailed map of the same 1,200-km stretch, documenting thousands of whale fossils and active whale-fall communities that extend beyond 7,000 m, Nature reported. The mapping effort, led by Xiaotong Peng and Peng Zhou, provided new insights into deep-sea biodiversity and cetacean evolution. Craig Smith and Amy Baco-Taylor were among the scientists who contributed to the analysis.