Largest whale graveyard over 5 million years old discovered in Indian Ocean

Scientists from China have discovered the largest whale cemetery in the southern Indian Ocean.

As follows from an article in the journal Nature, the “whale necropolis” is more than 5 million years old.

“In this paper, we report the discovery of an extensive whale necropolis in the Diamantina zone at depths ranging from 4,616 to 7,001 meters, extending approximately 1,200 kilometers along the seafloor in the southeastern Indian Ocean,” the article says.

It is specified that the remains of five modern natural communities and 476 registered fossil cetaceans were discovered there.

In addition, scientists identified a new species of whale among the skeletons. It is clarified that it is already extinct.

In addition, representatives of the fauna previously unknown to science were discovered that feed on whale remains.