science

So whales are like elephants

To be fair, it's a very, very long trench.

On the basis of submersible observations, the density of whale remains reaches up to 759.5 individuals per square kilometre. The concentration of whale falls and fossils in the Diamantina Zone raises fundamental questions about the origin of this whale necropolis.

These beaked whales possess extraordinary physiological adaptations for deep diving, routinely reaching depths more than 1,000 m and holding their breath for more than a hour. The maximum dive depth for beaked whales is estimated to be more than 3,000 m on the basis of lung collapse and oxygen storage. Thus, foraging at depths exceeding 3,000 m would be too physiologically taxing for beaked whales and may heighten the risk of fatal exhaustion or decompression sickness. Ultimately, the V-shaped topography of the Diamantina Zone may further contribute to this accumulation by funnelling and concentrating onto the sea floor the sinking carcasses caused by natural and accidental mortality.

Moreover, the investigated whale fossils, preserved for more than 5 million years, serve as an archive providing a direct, continuous record for tracing evolutionary trajectories. Comparative anatomical analysis of these remains can elucidate feeding behaviours, locomotion and ecological roles of deep-diving cetaceans. Thus, the Diamantina Zone necropolis constitutes a deep-sea fossil megasite: one that offers a window into the evolutionary history, palaeoecology and population dynamics of beaked whales from the Pliocene to the present day. Similar whale necropolises probably exist in other core beaked-whale habitats, such as South Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and off the Crozet and Kerguelen islands, as indicated by the recovery of abundant fossils by trawling, indicating that comparable hidden archives may be widespread in the global deep oceans.

probably intentional by some whales

This is a grave. Leave them there! What will we do with 476 whale ghosts, huh? It’s going to be absolute carnage

There's a nice nature video about this as well, for whomever the articles might be a bit dry.

Subnautica 3 can be on Earth and it'd still scare the shit out of me

The realist in me says 'Ooh, what interesting systems created a seeming whale ossuary?' The child in me says, 'OoOoOoOoh, something down there is so big it eats whales. Do not disturb the Leviathan.'

Clearly a bloody dispute between warring whale clans