World's largest whale graveyard discovered by sub at bottom of ocean: "Completely unexpected"

Key Points:

• Chinese scientists have discovered the world's largest and deepest whale graveyard in the Indian Ocean, with fossils dating back 5.3 million years and nearly 500 skeletons found up to 7,000 meters deep along a 1,200-kilometer corridor.
• The whale falls support vast deep-sea ecosystems, hosting diverse animals such as jellyfish, brittle stars, bone-boring worms, and bivalves, many of which may be new to science, and provide an estimated 6.7 million tonnes of sequestered carbon.
• The site, named the Diamantina Zone, is believed to accumulate whale carcasses due to its role as a popular foraging habitat and a V-shaped trench funneling remains to the seafloor, potentially containing over 10 million carcasses.
• Researchers highlighted the discovery's significance for understanding whale evolution, deep-sea ecosystems, and biogeographic connections between whale falls, hydrothermal vents, and cold seeps, suggesting such necropolises may be widespread globally.
• Experts praised the find as a major scientific breakthrough comparable to the discovery of hydrothermal vents, calling for further exploration to uncover more whale graveyards and deepen knowledge of deep-ocean biodiversity and carbon cycling.