Two vertebrae (backbones) of an early aetiocetid whale found in the Sooke Formation of Vancouver Island.
The atlas (first neck vertebra) of a squalodelphinid, an ancient relative of modern river dolphins, from the Sooke Formation of Vancouver Island.
By Dr. Victoria Arbour Curator of Palaeontology
WHALEONTOLOGY AT T H E R OYA L B C M U S E U M
T
oday, the waters around the shores of Vancouver Island are home to many species of whales, like the iconic Southern Resident orcas or the giant filter-feeding grey whales and humpbacks. But did you know that whales also swam in these waters 25 million years ago?
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Over the years, many interesting bits and pieces of marine mammals have been collected from places like Muir Creek Beach, Kirby Creek and Sombrio Beach. But besides the partial skeleton of an unusual animal called a desmostylian—sometimes referred to as a sea hippo—none of these fossils have been studied in detail. University of Victoria undergraduate science student Elizabeth Rohlicek worked with me over the last year to dig deep into the museum’s collection of whale fossils from southern Vancouver Island. Whale fossils on Vancouver Island come from a set of rocks that geologists call the Carmanah Group, and most of these were formed during the Oligocene Epoch, about 34 to 23 million years ago. Carmanah Group rocks often form cliffs full of light-coloured fossil shells, but every so often, someone stumbles across a dark brown piece of fossil bone. Our collection includes many ribs and rib fragments, vertebrae (backbones), small pieces of skulls and jaws, and even a scapula (a shoulder blade). What kinds of whales did these bones come from?
