Whale Vertabrae?

[iwhitley]

Here are some pics of a Vertabrae I found in Surry Virginia while out Deer hunting. Anybody got any info on this?

 

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[calisdad]

That's what it looks like to me. How far from the ocean? It's not fossilized is it?

nice find.

 

[iwhitley]

Found it off the James River (which is tidal) about a Mile up a swamp in a deep cut in the woods. We are about 30 miles from Virginia beach.

 

[Ninjafossils]

Yep whale thoracic vertebrae from the Miocene or Pliocene.

 

[GatorBoy]

Nice find... You might want to scope out any washouts or eroded areas around there.

 

[calisdad]

Yep whale thoracic vertebrae from the Miocene or Pliocene.

Why would it be so old? Looks like it came from a burn pile from a 19th century whaling ship.

 

[Ninjafossils]

Why would it be so old? Looks like it came from a burn pile from a 19th century whaling ship.

Well that is possible. Not having the object in person makes it pretty difficult. However having a general knowledge of marine vertebrate fossils, I say it is a whale vertebra. If it has some weight and clicks when u tap a spoon on it, it has some age

 

[Harry Pristis]

Why would it be so old? Looks like it came from a burn pile from a 19th century whaling ship.

Why would a whaling crew save one of the vertebrae? The greater probability is that the vertebra eroded from surface deposits in the area.

 

[carcusrex]

Fossil for sure. I would go back with a fossil shifter (2x4 frame about 1foot by 2foot with chicken wire mess on one side) and do some diggin, look for gravel type sediment in the river and dig there, might get other cool fossils like sharks teeth and land animals.

 

[GatorBoy]

 

[calisdad]

Why would a whaling crew save one of the vertebrae? The greater probability is that the vertebra eroded from surface deposits in the area.

I was just speaking from experience. I've found whale vertebrae in beach sand before. Gator Boys fossil looks nothing like the OP's find.

 

[GatorBoy]

Different section of the whale not necessarily the same species.. They don't all look alike down the entire length of the spine.

 

[Harry Pristis]

I was just speaking from experience. I've found whale vertebrae in beach sand before. Gator Boys fossil looks nothing like the OP's find.

Whale carcasses have been washing up on beaches for millions of years. The whale bones remain in place or close by, but the beach moves. Generally speaking, the further from the current beach whale bones turn up, the older they are. This vertebral centrum was not found on the current beach.

Found it off the James River (which is tidal) about a Mile up a swamp in a deep cut in the woods. We are about 30 miles from Virginia beach.

 

[Follows Camp Craig]

View attachment 917861



View attachment 917863

And a picture is worth a thousand words.
A backpack, shovel, custom floating screen with pool noodle accouterments.

A master does reveal his secrets.

An image of sedimentary layers without giving away a specific location.

I tip my hat to you Sir.

For I have been enlightened.

 

[Follows Camp Craig]

"For as long as there has been whales" yes indeed.
I have found agateized whale bone near Pt conception in California.
I sport a modern vertebrae in my china cabinet dredged up from what is now pier 400 in long beach.
I even have a pectoral bone adorned with some artwork from the same type of beast.

How cool is it that something so similar is found so far away by a different method, yet it inspires the same sense of awe and wonderment.

 

[GatorBoy]

And a picture is worth a thousand words.
A backpack, shovel, custom floating screen with pool noodle accouterments.

A master does reveal his secrets.

An image of sedimentary layers without giving away a specific location.

I tip my hat to you Sir.

For I have been enlightened.

Happy hunting

 

[Follows Camp Craig]

Sooo,
What name brand of shovel do you use?
(I'm cracking myself up!)

Everyone on this thread is unique. we just can't purchase the fossil finder 5000
and expect instant results. You must have been carefully taught or fortunate enough to stumble upon
that certain geographic location.

Fossils/artifacts just don't appear out of thin air.
Be mindful of what you seek, be careful of where you look.

 

[GatorBoy]

And be respectful of what you curate