Dig This: Prehistoric Whale Skeleton Found

A San Juan Capistrano landfill crew digging for a new spot to dump trash uncovered the skeleton of a prehistoric baby whale, Orange County waste department officials said Friday. Paleontologists estimate that the 20-foot-long fossil is at least 5 million years old and possibly as old as 7 million years.

“We are not experts on fossils,” said Sue Gordon, a spokeswoman for Orange County’s Integrated Waste Management. “We are experts on trash.”

But Gordon and her colleagues at the department have learned a lot since the discovery April 17 at the Prima Deshecha Landfill.

The skeleton is nearly intact, which suggests the baby baleen whale nose-dived into mud, preventing scavengers from getting to its carcass, Gordon said. Its location also suggests that what is now San Juan Capistrano was once deep under the sea.

Gordon said landfill workers frequently discover fossils and other items of archeological interest, but they are usually in small pieces. In fact, such finds are so common that two paleontology and archeology groups contract with the waste management department.

Any time crews find something, they stop work and call the scientists.

With the latest discovery, paleontologists will be able to rebuild most of the skeleton: skull, ribs and most of the vertebrae.

Once the excavation is complete, the pieces will be coated with a hardening agent, wrapped in burlap and plaster, and encased for storage, Gordon said.

“It is such a rare fossil,” she said, “that essentially it will be put on display. But that is still further down the road.”