L.A. Plan Abandoned : Ancient Whale’s Fossil to Be Kept in County

The fossilized remains of a 30-foot prehistoric whale discovered May 7 in Orange County, along with parts of a much smaller mammal found nearby, will be kept in the county rather than shipped to the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, a county supervisor’s aide said Monday.

“There’s no way we’re going to let these remains go somewhere else when we have our own Orange County Natural History Foundation that needs all the artifacts it can get,” said Peter Herman, chief aide to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley.

‘What’s Found . . . Stays’

Steve Goolian, a spokesman for H.R. Remington Properties Inc., developers of the Laguna Niguel site where grading machines turned up the remains, agreed that “it only makes sense that what’s found in Orange County stays in Orange County.”

Goolian added that the remains, on which archeological workers have applied protective coatings of burlap and plaster, will be hoisted by crane onto trucks at noon today for shipment.

“At this point I’m not sure where they’re going, except they’ll probably be put in temporary storage somewhere here in the county,” Goolian said.

Herman said the remains might be stored in the county registrar of voters’ warehouse until their ultimate destination is determined. He added that the county’s Natural History Foundation has some display facilities in a small museum overlooking Upper Newport Bay in Newport Beach.

‘A Very Rare Find’

The discovery of the larger fossil, said to be that of a 6-million-year-old baleen whale of undetermined species, and the later unearthing of the smaller 10-foot mammal about five feet away, was described by one archeologist as “a very rare find, considering they were so close together and in such good condition.”

Both animals lived during a period millions of years ago when much of south Orange County was under ocean water. Other fossils of various sea mammals have been found as earth movement proceeds on developments.

A key element to preserving the wealth of fossils being uncovered in the quickly developing south Orange County area is a 1977 ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors. The ordinance requires developers to watch for fossils and artifacts of early Indian civiliations during preliminary building stages.