MISSION VIEJO : Skill and Bones: A Whale Is Restored

With chisels, glue and plenty of patience, Saddleback College students are restoring the fossilized, 6-million-year-old remains of a whale unearthed last year in Laguna Niguel.

The work is tedious and somewhat like assembling a massive jigsaw puzzle, except for one thing: Jigsaw puzzles usually come with all the pieces.

“There’s a certain element of drudgery to it, but at the same time, you’re working on a 6-million-year-old piece,” said Kara McLeod, a 27-year-old anthropology major.

Since the special paleontology class began Jan. 17, more than a dozen students have succeeded in restoring the whale’s jaw and eight vertebrae.

The whale was discovered in August during construction of a church parking lot in Laguna Niguel.

About two-thirds of the whale’s skeleton, including most of its spinal column and an intact 9-foot skull, were recovered.

Peter Borella, a professor of geology at Saddleback and the paleontologist who monitored the construction at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church on Crown Valley Parkway, worked out an arrangement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange for donation of the whale to the college.

Once restored, the 32-foot skeleton will be displayed on the campus near the math and science building, said Mary Amelotte, a senior lab technician who works with Borella.

Amelotte, who is helping supervise the restoration work, said the job is satisfying, especially after sections of bone have been put together.

She said the area where the whale remains were found used to be under several thousand feet of water.

“Finding something like this gives you a piece to the puzzle to understand the past,” Amelotte said.