World's Largest Whale Cemetery Discovered in the Indian Ocean

(Digital Itla) The world's largest whale cemetery has been discovered in the depths of the Indian Ocean, identified by Chinese scientists. According to researchers, the remains of old and new whales present in this vast underwater region are supporting a large ecosystem of deep marine life. According to the research published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, this is also the deepest and oldest whale cemetery discovered so far, with some fossils reported to be 5.3 million years old. The research states that approximately 500 whale skeletons have been found at a depth of 7,000 meters in a 1,200-kilometer-long marine strip stretching across the Indian Ocean region located west of Australia. Observing through a submersible, Chinese scientists surprisingly saw marine creatures that are potentially new to science and depend on these whale remains. During the same research, a new species of an extinct whale was also identified. According to the head of the research, Xiaotong Peng, the team was astonished when the scale and vastness of this discovery were realized. According to him, it was previously known that when a whale dies and falls to the ocean floor, its remains become a source of food for marine life known as a "whale fall", but a cemetery of this scale was unexpected. Researchers say that a possible reason for the large number of whale deaths in this area is that this region is an important feeding ground for them, while an underwater V-shaped trench helps collect these remains in one place. For this research, the Chinese submersible "Fendouzhe" dove into the deep sea 32 times in 2023, though this revelation has now been brought forward in the journal Nature. The submersible accommodated three individuals who obtained samples using robotic arms. According to the co-author of the research, Zhao Zhou, witnessing this sight was an incredible experience, and scientists are calling this discovery a historic breakthrough.