London, Mar.20 (ANI): Marine biologists have, for the first time, found a whale skeleton on the ocean floor near Antarctica, giving new insights into life in the sea depths. The discovery was made almost a mile below the surface in an undersea crater and includes the find of at least nine new species of deep-sea organisms thriving on the bones. The research, involving the University of Southampton, Natural History Museum, British Antarctic Survey, National Oceanography Centre and Oxford University, is published online in Deep-Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. "The planet's largest animals are also a part of the ecology of the very deep ocean, providing a rich habitat of food and shelter for deep sea animals for many years after their death," says Diva Amon, lead author of the paper and PhD student from the University of Southampton and the Natural History Museum. "Examining the remains of this southern Minke whale gives insight into how nutrients are recycled in the ocean, which may be a globally important process in our oceans," continues Diva, who is based in the Graduate School of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (GSNOCS). Worldwide, only six natural whale skeletons have ever been found on the seafloor. Scientists have previously studied whale carcasses, known as a 'whale fall', by sinking...
