ALT Recovery of whale fossil bones using the manipulator arm of the Chinese submersible Fendouzhe on the deep seafloor of the Diamantina Zone, a deep-sea rift in the Indian Ocean. Image: Global TREnD, IDSSE.

ALT Fossil skulls of three beaked whales recovered from the seafloor at hadal depth of the Diamantina Zone, 6,584–-6,878 meters. The image shows two extinct beaked whale species, Pterocetus diamantinae sp. nov. (new species to science, on the top) and Izikoziphius rossi (the second skull), as well as an extant Andrews’ beaked whale, Mesoplodon bowdoini (two skulls on the bottom). Image: Global TREnD, IDSSE

ALT A 16.4-foot-long (5 meter) Antarctic minke whale on the seafloor. This whale fall was host to 26 invertebrate species. (Image credit: Global TREnD, IDSSE)