ON
🔍
← Back to feed
United KingdomPolitics11 days ago

Newly discovered whale graveyard dates back millions of years

Researchers have discovered a massive ancient whale graveyard, providing insights into deep-sea ecosystems and the historical presence of whales in the area. The findings are based on submarine dives and are detailed in a research article by Peng et al.

NATURE PODCAST

10 June 2026

Submarine dives reveal complex deep-sea ecosystems living on whale remains — plus, a way to turn plant material into nylon.

By

Benjamin Thompson

Shamini Bundell

Subscribe

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Download the Nature Podcast 10 June 2026

In this episode:

00:46 A giant, ancient whale necropolis

Research article: Peng et al.

News & Views: A vast whale necropolis has been found

08:52 Research Highlights

Nature: Babies’ birth weight improves with help of payments to parents

Nature: Earliest signs of vision recorded in ancient sea-floor tracks

11:11 Turning plant material into chemical building-blocks

Research article: Mains et al.

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube Music or your favourite podcast app. An RSS feed for the Nature Podcast is available too.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01864-3

Related Articles

This whale lives for centuries: its secret could help extend human lifespan

Genus-wide plant pangenome could inform next-generation crop design

‘Google Maps’ for Roman roads reveals vast extent of ancient network

Subjects

Latest on:

A vast whale necropolis has been found

News & Views 10 JUN 26

A 5.3-million-year-old deep-sea whale necropolis in the Diamantina Zone

Article 10 JUN 26

Ancient ground squirrels feasted on carcasses like ‘zombies of the Pleistocene’

News 09 JUN 26

Rocks falling from melting icebergs host deep-sea oases of biodiversity

News 10 JUN 26

Ocean ‘cold blob’ is evidence for a troubling climate trend

Research Highlight 09 JUN 26

Meet the biologists deciphering marine-mammal histories from baleen, whiskers and tusks

Technology Feature 27 MAY 26

How I use AI to turn failed drugs into new medicines

Spotlight 10 JUN 26

Five winning images of scientists at work

Career Feature 10 JUN 26

Hybrid refinery process turns plant material into industrially important chemical

News & Views 10 JUN 26

Read the full article at Nature News →
Source document: A vast whale necropolis has been found

1 reports

Nature NewsParty-alignedCenter11 days ago
Newly discovered whale graveyard dates back millions of years

Researchers have discovered a massive ancient whale graveyard, providing insights into deep-sea ecosystems and the historical presence of whales in the area. The findings are based on submarine dives and are detailed in a research article by Peng et al.

Bias read (Center): The article reports on a scientific discovery without apparent ideological framing. It focuses on the research itself, citing the study by Peng et al., and does not take a stance on any political issue.

Official sources cited

Go to the primary sources (1)

The official sources this coverage is built on. Read them directly to bypass framing.