Storm Unearths Prehistoric Whale Fossil

The embedded ribs of an 8 million year-old Baline Whale fossil at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Md. Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004. The bones were discovered in September after Hurricane Isabel eroded the coastline along the St. Mary's River in St.Mary's County, Md. (AP Photo/ Matt Houston)

Fri Jan 30,11:03 AM ET
By STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer

SOLOMONS, Md. - Heavy erosion by Hurricane Isabel pounding on the cliffs that line St. Mary's River uncovered the fossilized skull of what paleontologists say was a whale that swam in the area eight million years ago.

The discovery of the complete skull could help scientists fill a gap in their knowledge of the evolution of Atlantic Ocean whales during the warm Miocene epoch millions of years ago.
"It (the whale) occurs in a 3 million year block of time where we know very little about the whales that were here," said Stephen Godfrey, curator of paleontology for the Calvert Marine Museum.

The remains were displayed on Thursday at the museum where scientists are carefully chipping away the sediment around the five-and-a-half foot skull with hopes of one day putting it on display.

The cliffs of Southern Maryland offer a rich source of marine fossils, including thousands of prehistoric shark teeth and whale bones that are uncovered by erosion.

Jeff DiMeglio and his girlfriend were out scouring for shark teeth six days after Isabel swept through the area, when they came across what DiMeglio, an experienced fossil hunter, recognized as the rib of a whale. He covered the fossil and contacted the museum.

Godfrey believes the 18-foot whale lived at a time when warm temperatures spread across the Atlantic Ocean, inland across the East Coast covering the Chesapeake Bay and parts of the Washington region.
It was found in an area where the water would have been shallow, different from the deep water sediments where most whale fossils are found in the area.
Godfrey thinks it was a baleen whale, meaning it would gulp water and then force it out across hairy plates in its mouth, trapping food. He's unsure if it was an ancestor of modern baleen whales, like the humpback or part of an extinct line of whales.
Scientists were unable to locate the spine of the whale but did recover some vertebrae, a neck bone, a fin and a shoulder blade along with the skull.
There are a few clues to how it may have died. Teethmarks score part of the bone and the fossilized teeth of giant mako and cow sharks were found among the bones. The sharks could have killed the whale or fed on its remains.
To free the fossil from the shoreline, scientists swathed it in burlap and plaster-of-paris, creating a hard cast.

Comments

[Jack]

Not too far. It's kind of a triangle though. It's about the same distance to Frederick as to Calvert Cliffs. I go through Frederick all the time to visit my parents in Pennsylvania. Frederick is a nice town. Growing rapidly. Still got some nice antiques shops.

[Cyn]

Aww, not fair at all Jack!

Sidenote: If you are north of Calvert Cliffs (and one would just about have to be) you must not be too terribly far from my parents in Frederick.

[Jack]

Calvert Cliffs is just down the road from me. Well, fifty miles down the road. Still, it could have been me that found that whale. How come all I ever find is old pennies?