Fossil bones are everywhere on New Brighton Beach.

Описание: Searching for whale skeletons among the rocks from Purishima formation.
Here is our old video about Gizdich Ranch:
   • Gizdich Ranch best pies and picking berrie...  
Web site of the bakery: https://www.gizdich-ranch.com/
See this article for stratigraphic information:
https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/publis...

Finding a fossilized shark tooth on the coast of California:
   • Fossilized shark tooth and shells in the c...  

One cloudy November day we traveled along the coast of California, near Santa Cruz. Although the goal of the trip was to get a few of the delicious Gizdich ranch pies, we decided to stop by a beach known for its fossil deposits consisting mainly of shells and bones of marine mammals, mostly whales. We were hoping to make some discoveries; and discoveries we made. To be fair, this material is not for collecting. First of all, the bones are protected by law and the territory is a state beach. The shells are fragile and mostly broken. So, the best you can do is to take pictures and enjoy the process of finding bones embedded in hard gray matrix of Purishima formation. The rocks containing fossils are grounded and smoothed by the waves. As a result, most of the bones are seen in cross section, making them easy to recognize by the net-like internal structures.
The best-preserved bones are quite large. You may find a series of vertebrae, elongated ribs, and even back of a skull. This one has a hole for the spinal cord. The hole is called foramen magnum. Whales were migrating along the Pacific Coast for millions of years. They still do it, albeit in much fewer quantities. You can imagine how many skeletons accumulated on the bottom of the ocean near the shores. The landmass is slowly rising, revealing the layers of shells in marine sediments and occasionally bones, which are approximately 4 million years old. There is probably a very slim chance to find a shark tooth here. By the way, when a body of a dead whale gets on the bottom of the deep ocean, a whole micro-ecosystem is being formed around it from various animals eager to take advantage of the nutrients. The scientists called this event – whale fall. A carcass of a whale can feed the deep sea animals for years. A couple of fallen trees were lying across the sand strip and bunch of fresh chunks of cliffs had fallen down apparently not too long ago. One of the trees was a huge Eucalyptus. Its enormous trunk was lying across the path and the trunk alone was as large as an adult person. We found several especially large fossilized clams that looked like cockle shells.The weather was cool and foggy. Our clothes got soaked in the drizzle but we did not mind the light rain because the wet stones revealed much more than they would do being dry. Perhaps, recent rains were the reason why massive pieces chipped off the cliff. We checked them, trying to keep away from the cliff. It seems like this portion of the beach could be a dangerous place to be. The layers of sandstone are only a few million years old. We found some interesting fossils like barnacles and something resembling sea urchins. These fossils are still wet and very fragile. They will likely disintegrate in a few weeks. Fortunately, we visited the place at the right moment and, by making this video, will preserve the fossils for much longer and more people will see them. You can do your part by liking and sharing this video. Thanks for watching and see you next time!

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