Overview
- A Nature paper published in June 2026 reports a roughly 1,200‑kilometre corridor in the Diamantina Fracture Zone containing hundreds of whale skeletal sites—about 485 documented locations—with remains recorded from roughly 4,200 metres down to about 7,002 metres.
- The team found five active whale‑fall communities deeper than 6,000 metres, marking the deepest documented ecosystems of this kind and expanding the known depth range by more than 2,500 metres.
- Laboratory dating shows some fossils date to about 5.3 million years and paleontologists described a new species, Pterocetus diamantinae, from material recovered at the site.
- The discovery followed 32 manned dives in 2023 using the Fendouzhe submersible led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences with international partners who mapped and sampled bones and associated fauna.
- Scientists say the V‑shaped topography and very low sedimentation likely funneled and preserved carcasses, and they warn the site could contain many species new to science while prompting further targeted expeditions and taxonomic work.