Scientists who recently piloted a submersible to a remote spot in the southeastern Indian Ocean have identified one of the largest and deepest whale graveyards containing hundreds of fossils, including one representing a previously unknown species.

Discovery Details

The graveyard, which measures approximately 746 miles long, is home to the remains of beaked whales, which have skulls that taper into slender snouts like those of dolphins. These whales are deep-diving and spend little time near the surface, so they are rarely seen and very little is known about their habits.

Researchers observed some sunken whale cadavers in the graveyard that were recent enough to still have scavengers attached to them; known as whale falls, these carcasses nourish diverse communities of deep-sea life, including bone-eating worms, snails, long-armed brittle stars and bivalves that survive through chemosynthesis — using chemical energy to produce their food.

The area serves as a habitat or migratory corridor for cetaceans, and the zone then funnels carcasses to the seafloor, and very little sediment movement at those depths means that the carcasses stay exposed to scavengers. Over time, deep-sea minerals, such as ferromanganese oxide, form crusts on the bones and preserve them as fossils.

Significance of the Find

The discovery of the whale graveyard provides valuable insights into the evolutionary history of the group and shows that highly specialized beaked whales had already evolved by the time these fossils were deposited. The finding also highlights the importance of preserving our oceans and the creatures that inhabit them.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.