
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, October 22, 1995                   TAG: 9510230066
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Medium

FOSSILIZED WHALE BONES FOUND NEAR JAMES RIVER

The ``huge chunk of something'' found off the banks of the James River probably is the remains of a fossilized whale, a scientist said.

A Newport News Shipbuilding equipment operator recently was working to expand one of the shipyard's dry docks when he hit something large with a backhoe.

``We started picking away dirt, and we saw bone marrow,'' said field engineer Don Bever. ``The outline of the bones was there in the clay. Since this was a virgin area that had never been disturbed, we thought it might be something important.''

It was, says geologist Gerald Johnson.

The remains likely are the chest cavity, jaw and facial bones of a fossil whale, between 3 million and 4 million years old, Johnson said.

``We've found other whales in this area, but we don't have one like this, and not from this period,'' said Johnson, a professor at the College of William and Mary who will study the bones.

The chunk of bone, clay, silt and sand is about 6 feet long, 5 feet wide and weighs about 4 tons. Nestled alongside the whale bones are tiny mollusks, barnacles, sponges and other marine invertebrates.

It took a forklift to pull the mass out of the ground and onto a flatbed truck. It was delivered about three weeks ago to a laboratory at the William and Mary geology department.

Johnson and his staff plan to begin chipping away at the massive block with dental picks and drills to isolate the whale bones - the rounded ribs, flat facial planes and elliptical jaws - sticking out of the clay.

``It's going to be a lot of work, that's for sure,'' he said.

While the species and size of the whale are unknown, preliminary analysis shows that the animal likely died about 40 miles offshore, came to rest on an ancient sea floor and was buried rapidly, Johnson says.

After Johnson finishes his study, the bones likely will be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Scientists at the college believe the whale is a baleen, or toothless whale, characterized by a sieve-like structure in the mouth for straining out small animals from the sea water.

The baleen group includes the blue whale, the largest of all animals alive today, as well as the humpback whale and the gray whale.

by CNB