The Whales of Chile

                I’ve never had the chance to go there, myself, but I have a friend who comes from Chile. He’s told all about it. He’s described his pleasant little seaside hometown, the lovely weather and the rich history. He’s even taught me a handful of words in his native Spanish.

            But what he’s never told me about is the whales. Apparently Chile is a prime whale watching nation. The animals migrate past Chile’s coast every year from August to March., filling the waters with shows put on by all sorts of species of the giant mammals. Some say you can even see the magnificent, giant Blue Whale swim by if you happen to be in the right place at the right time. Can you imagine being able to see big, beautiful Blue Whales practically right outside your back door? Many of us only ever get to see them in the pages of books or on film.

            So if you’re ever out Santiago way, make sure you drop by the sea and do a little good old fashioned whale watching.

            Or, if you prefer, you could just drive down the highway and do your whale watching in the desert.

            This is a pretty amazing and fascinating story. Apparently, for some time, along the Pan American highway in the Northern Chile, large bones have been visible, wearing through the eroding soil on a particular patch of highway which has earned the nickname “Whale Hill”.  In Spanish, that’s Cerro Ballena. Recently, when they razed a big chunk of that hill for highway expansions and construction, they made an amazing and breath taking discovery!

Underneath the earth there lay an ancient and long undisturbed graveyard. A whale graveyard. A rich and unparalleled fossil bed of ancient marine life.

            The powers-that-be only allowed for two weeks for a complete study of the area before construction workers would be allowed to pave it over for the highway. So, the paleontologists had to work fast. They dusted off as many fossil remains as they could and took plenty of pictures, as well as 3D imaging techniques to allow them to continue their studies long after they had to leave the site. Click here for some amazing pictures.

            What they found was amazing. There were around 40 individuals from the Rorqual family. These were the ancestors of the Blue, Fin and Minke whales we know today. Many of these were completely intact skeletons. There were also several unusual extinct species, never seen alive, such as the Walrus Whale, a creature with the body of a whale and a walrus-looking face.  There was even a very unusual water sloth. This was a four-legged mammal, very similar to today’s modern sloths that had become very adept to the water, spending much of its time paddling around the seabed. There were also the remains of dolphins, seals and several large fish.

            So why such a myriad of animals all in one place? Scientists found the clues they needed right there in the fossil bed. They found several instances of herds of like species all pointed in the same direction or all upside down. This suggested to them that this was perhaps the sight of a mass beaching. Perhaps not all at once. There had been several beaching of several species over the course of about 10,000 years, leaving animal remains on top of animal remains. The result: an amazing picture of ancient South American sea life. Some are calling it the richest site for marine fossil life in the world.

            One of Mother Nature’s surprise packages.

            This many beachings suggest to the experts that the animals died en masse and were washed up on shore. The most likely cause, they say, is the ingestion of poisonous algae.

            Well, the big, concrete highway was laid down, and the scientists had to disperse. But not before they managed to extract some of these animals from the stone that held them tight for so long. Click here for some amazing pictures.

            So, if I ever head down to Chile to see my friend, I’ll have to pop by one of the museums to check out some of those fossils on display.

            But, mostly, you’ll find me by the sea, watching for the ones who are still swimming.

           

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