VIDEO NEWS RELEASE WHALE OF A FIND UNEARTHED AT SAN DIEGO ZOO

    In 2009, the San Diego Zoo debuted The Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey featuring fossil replicas from the Pleistocene epoch, but on Thursday it unearthed a genuine 24-foot-long whale fossil while digging for a storm water tank.
     A construction crewing using an excavator hit a hard spot when digging through fine grain sand, known in the paleontology world as "San Diego formation" stone.  A San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist was already on site, assigned to the project as a precautionary measure. When he heard the excavator strike a solid item, he investigated and discovered a 3-million-year-old whale.
     Sarah Siren, San Diego Natural History Museum paleontological field manager, says finding an intact skull along with the vertebrae is unique. The whale appears to be well preserved, giving the team hope they can identify which species of baleen whale was unearthed.
     The skull and other large pieces will be encapsulated in plaster jackets while smaller pieces, including vertebrae are being cleaned with brushes and boxed up to be moved to the museum's laboratory to analyze the find.
     The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. The organization focuses on conservation and research work around the globe, educates millions of individuals a year about wildlife and maintains accredited horticultural, animal, library and photo collections. The Zoo also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo Safari Park (historically referred to as the Wild Animal Park), which includes a 900-acre native species reserve, and the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.