WASHINGTON – A 15 million-year-old whale skull has a new home at a Maryland museum after being recovered near Stratford Hall, Va.
Calvert Marine Museum employees and others excavated the baleen whale skull last month, and the specimen was transported by boat, tractor and truck to the museum. The 6-foot-long skull is one of the largest ever collected locally, according to the museum.
Based on the skull’s size, researchers say they believe the entire whale would have been 25 or more feet long. The rest of the whale’s skeleton remains in a cliff where museum employees will continue to excavate, the museum says.
A group of employees, interns and volunteers from the museum and Stratford Hall spent much of the month of July working to uncover the skull. When it was removed, it took more than 30 people to make sure the skull was transported to the museum without damaging it.
“This excavation truly would not have been possible without the help of so many people. The Paleontology Department at CMM is very thankful for everyone’s assistance and excited to begin working on and researching this momentous find,” the Calvert Marine Museum says in a news release.
Museum representatives have not yet said when the skull will go on display. The Calvert Marine Museum is located in Solomons, Md.
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