Science journalist covering all fields. Formerly an editor at New Scientist and Nature. 🧪🐸 🍄
New Scientist: https://tinyurl.com/2tvwfa2b
Live Science: https://tinyurl.com/4mbyh7a9
Sci Am: https://tinyurl.com/bdza74ta
Nature: https://tinyurl.com/yc265esp
Chris Simms
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You've also got to bear in mind that these whale bodies have been accumulating for millions of years and we can still see them because unusually little sediment is being laid down over them. The high numbers might just be a result of a normal level of deaths over a very long time
Regardless, this giant field of whale remains seems an amazing discovery to me and the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a sci-fi film than read about in reality.
Plus there used to be a LOT more whales in the sea
The original research is in @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The thought process for this article was kicked off by a recent analysis in Science Advances of the volcano Methana in Greece, which once slept for nearly 110,000 years before bursting back to life.
It surprised me how many more examples there were out there.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The whales almost certainly aren't going there to die, though. Whales don't have control over where their body sinks to the sea floor because it - often bloated with gas thanks to decomposition - might float at the surface for huge distances.
When is an "extinct" volcano not actually extinct? More often than you might expect
🧪 #volcanology #geology
www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
This discovery amazed me: A whale "graveyard" extending over 1,200 km. The remains or fossils of about 480 whales found in a total survey area of about 0.64 square kilometres, with one of the fossils dating back more than 5 million years.
🧪 🐋 🦑 🦊 #cetaceans
www.livescience.com/animals/whal...
