Posted on 12/11/2012 7:22:44 AM PST by lbryce
While working on a highway-widening project in the middle of South America's Atacama Desert, Chilean workers unearthed an eerie scene that had no business being more than a kilometer away from the ocean: a mass fossil graveyard containing more than 75 ancient whales, reports MSNBC.
Finding whale bones in the middle of the desert is strange enough, but scientists were quick to notice a deeper mystery. The fossils ended up right next to one another some mere meters apart as if to suggest that the whales all died at once, possibly during some cataclysmic tragedy. What could have happened?
"That's the top question," said Mario Suarez, director of the Paleontological Museum in the nearby town of Caldera.
According to Nicholas Pyenson, curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the whales probably died between 2 million and 7 million years ago, during a time when the area would have been a "lagoon-like environment," much different than the desert landscape it is today. The real mystery, then, has less to do with how the whales got there, and more to do with why they died.
Could they have beached themselves after becoming disoriented in the shallows? Perhaps the lagoon had become separated from the sea by a landslide, earthquake or storm, trapping the whales within? Maybe there was something else about this lagoon that made it a whale trap. Right now, scientists aren't sure.
"There are many ways that whales could die, and we're still testing all those different hypotheses," said Pyenson. But, he added: "I think they died more or less at the same time."
Of the 75 whales that have been discovered so far, 20 of them represent perfectly intact skeletons, making the site one of the best preserved fossil beds from that time period along the west coast of South America. Most of the fossils are baleen whales that measure about 25 feet long, and one startling fossilized scene depicts two adult whales with a juvenile between them, a possible family group.
Researchers have also discovered fossils of other unusual creatures at the site, including a now-extinct dolphin that had two walrus-like tusks, an extinct aquatic sloth and an ancient seabird with a 17-foot wingspan. All in all, the site represents a remarkable snapshot of the ecosystem millions of years ago.
Although officials have asked that fossils that rest along the path of the widened Pan American Highway be moved out of the way, the Chilean government has declared the site a protected area.
"We have a unique opportunity to develop a great scientific project and make a great contribution to science," said Suarez. \
“Whales live in the ocean. They would not have been killed by a food. When the waters receded, the whaleswhich were floating in the waterwould have receded along with the water.”
The area they were in might have been deep enough but their escape routes might have become too shallow when the waters retreated. It’s like how some sea life gets caught in little pools in the rocks when the tide goes out, only on a larger scale.
All the water being suddenly put on the earth would have caused all kinds of problems. Some parts of the crust would have sunk and some parts would have risen. This would have happened very quickly and all over the place. The whales got stuck.
How about bacon ranch whale wings?
Dolphin with Tusks?
Flipper the Ripper
PETA has demanded that the highway project be canceled and a Whale Memorial be erected with the surrounding12 million square miles be set aside for the study of the whale’s culture.
LOL!
Yeah, the only possible explanation is a global flood.
Only a global flood would line up dead whales neatly in a row.
All other explanations are satanic.
Spoken like a "actual" scientist.
With just that hint of chocolate.
Makes sense...whales not being able to survive a flood.
If only Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherds existed between 2 and 7 million years ago.
How about this. Maybe that was a shoreline at one time and that’s where the whales beached themselves. It’s not like it never happened before.
Gee, I guess the scientists don’t have all the answers!
Obviously the research is still in an early stage since they haven't managed to blame the whales' deaths on George W. Bush or global warming...yet.
Chocolate?
Or GLOBAL WARMING!
Whales die wholesale: Fact of nature. Just because we don't know a mundane reason, doesn't mean we have to clutch at fantastic ones.
As if these guys haven’t seen that sort of thing before. This story strengthens my faith. I love seeing God’s word validated and watching the fools grasp at straws.
Didn’t he play for the Longhorns?
So, if the Earth had a fever (algore) and the sea levels rose, this might have been under water?
Algore was right all along...except the “man made global warming” part. What a bunch of maroons!
I’ve found fossilized sea-shells in the mountains east of Salt Lake City.
I wonder if this might mean that ocean levels were higher...perhaps *much* higher...then than they are today?
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