A 5.3M-year-old deep-sea whale necropolis in the Diamantina Zone

Researchers discovered a vast whale necropolis in the Diamantina Zone of the southeastern Indian Ocean, containing 476 fossil cetaceans and five active whale-fall communities at depths of 4,616-7,001 meters along a 1,200 km stretch of seafloor. Isotopic dating reveals whale falls have occurred in this region for at least 5.3 million years, hosting specialized communities of brittle stars, bone-boring worms, and chemosynthetic organisms. This discovery significantly expands understanding of whale-fall ecosystems and establishes deep-sea floors as valuable archives for tracing cetacean evolution over geological time.