Scientists find 5.3-million-year Indian Ocean whale graveyard (opens in new tab)

Researchers led by Xiaotong Peng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported in a Nature study published June 10 that they found the largest, deepest and oldest known whale-fall graveyard in the Diamantina Zone of the southeastern Indian Ocean, west of Australia. The team used the Fendouzhe submersible during 2023 dives to map a roughly 1,200-kilometre corridor of whale bones at depths of about 4,200 to 7,000 metres, identifying 476 whale fossils; some remains date back 5.3 million years. The...