Mastodawn

Today, in INCREDIBLE whalefall news, a five-million old necropolis of whale skeletons has been found -- five active ecosystems and almost 500 fossil cetaceans in the Diamantina Zone, between 5-7km deep and 1200km long in the Indian Ocean. [open access paper] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10546-z

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

Researchers uncovered an enormous deep-sea accumulation of whale remains in the southeastern Indian Ocean, showing long-term, specialized ecosystems and an extensive fossil record that offers new insight into deep-ocean biodiversity and whale evolutionary history.

Nature

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skua

@debcha

Amazing science in a remote area.
Wondered if the data was from the searches for MH370 (disappeared 2014).
But it is from a Chinese research vessel in 2023-4.
Though the areas being investigated appear close to each other. The WP MH370 map might even be showing the Diamantina Zone starting almost on the edge of the MH370-search zone

Handy if the seabed data from the MH370 search showed whale falls - patterns in distribution & number of falls.
#WhaleFalls #DiamantinaZone #MH370