CLAM STEW: THE FOSSILS OF SOOKE

Sunshine, salt air, the bark of seals and fossils await for those lucky enough to beach comb the sandstones of Sooke on Vancouver Islands' southwestern edge.

Friends had the chance to collect there recently and found a number these lovely marine fossils near the exposure at Muir Creek.

Here you can see a budding paleontologist, holding some of his finds - blocks of late Oligocene, 20-25 million year old, sandstone full of small gastropods, bivalves and barnacle bits of the Sooke Formation.

By the late Oligocene ocean temperatures had cooled to near modern levels and the taxa preserved as fossils bear a strong resemblance to those found living beneath the Strait of Juan de Fuca today. Mammal material, echinoids, coral, chitin and limpets are also found here.

The largely intertidal assemblage of fossil species tell us that the formation was layed down near shore and the thickly strewn layers we see as blocks and in the nearby cliffs suggest that they may have been deposited along a strand line.

TY COLLWYN WATERFRONT RETREAT

If you are looking for a great place to stay, try the Ty Collwyn Waterfront Retreat, a fabulous B&B nestled on Sooke Harbour.

Ty Collwyn Waterfront Retreat offers private, oceanfront, two bedroom cottages within walking distance from the heart of Sooke, on Vancouver Island. We are located just forty minutes west of Victoria; the capital city of British Columbia, Canada.

Each cottage has an ocean view of Sooke Harbour and the Juan de Fuca Strait, private deck and hot tub. Yes, something like heaven!

The grounds include a heated indoor pool, coin-operated laundry facilities, private dock, and waterfront with a fire pit, all surrounded by lush trees and an acre of grass area.

When you are not relaxing and enjoying your oceanfront view, take advantage of all that Sooke has to offer. Enjoy a scenic drive to our beautiful West Coast beaches, visit the Sooke Potholes, catch a wave surfing, go ocean kayaking, try a fishing charter, check out the Sooke Museum, walk along the wonderful Whiffin Spit, or travel any of the region's hiking trails on foot, rollerblade, or bicycle.

Later, you can dine at the world renowned Sooke Harbour House Restaurant, famous Mom's Café, or create your own barbeque feast right on your deck.

Visit www.stayinsooke.com or email: info@sayinsooke.com

AVIGNON

EIGHTH BC PALEONTOLOGICAL SYMPOSIUM

Eighth
British
Columbia
Paleontological
Symposium

Presented by the Vancouver Paleontological Society,
University of British Columbia, Earth and Ocean Sciences, and
British Columbia Paleontological Alliance
MAY 15-18, 2009

Call for Posters & Abstracts

2009 BCPA CONFERENCE - The Vancouver Paleontological Society invites you the Eighth British Columbia Paleontological Symposium, to be held at the University of British Columbia, May 15-18, 2009.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER - This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Gregory Wilson, a specialist on the evolution and ecology of early mammals, University of Washington, Department of Biology. Continuing the format of past symposia, the meeting will bring together both the professional and avocational paleontological community.

As well as an engaging line-up of speakers, there will also be field trips, workshops, retail booth and the return of the popular Paleo Art Show with juried prizes. A Community Open House will be held on the Sunday for members of the general public.

FOSSIL MAMMALS - While the symposium will highlight fossil mammals, we invite talks, posters and displays showcasing all aspects of paleontology, with non-academics especially encouraged to contribute.

SYMPOSIUM ABSTRACT VOLUME - There will be a symposium abstract volume published and provided to all registrants. We request that speakers and poster presenters submit abstracts for the publication. Abstracts can be 1-4 pages (with 1 being standard) in length. Mailing and e-mail address of the author should be included for insertion in the volume.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION of posters and abstracts for publication is April 10, 2009. Submission of an abstract is mandatory for speakers and poster displays. Paleontologists unable to make the meeting but interested in contributing to the abstract volume to share their research on fossil mammals are welcome to contribute.

REGISTRATION – FULL SYMPOSIUM PASS
Professional Paleontologists $100 | Non-BCPA attendees $100 | BCPA Members $80 | Students $60

SEND CHEQUE PAYABLE TO:
Vancouver Paleontological Society, Centrepoint P.O. Box 19653, Vancouver, BC, V5T 4E7

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.bcfossils.ca | http://www.vcn.bc.ca/vanps/ | fossilhuntress@hotmail.co.uk

ANGUS & ELLIOTT

LIGHT AND DARK

EATEN ALIVE: SHRIMP BEATS GOLIATH

What looked to be a small stroke of genius in the fight against global warming has resulted in huge disaster.

Planktos, a California-based company that sells “carbon credits” to businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint and contribution to global emissions has been taken down by a swarm of shrimp. They had planned to harness the photosynthetic power of algae to lower greenhouse gases.

Algae come cheap, requiring light and water. They also require iron, which may be the sixth most abundant element in the Universe, but still relatively rare in the ocean. The small bits algae utilize are blown in by the wind and runoff from rivers and streams.

While some scientists and environmental groups object to their plan fearing harmful changes to the ecosystem, Planktos went ahead and dumped a hundred tons of iron dust mixed with seawater into international waters off the coast of the Argentina.

Expecting a plankton bloom and carbon credit riches to follow, their plans were literally eaten alive by a swarm of algae-loving shrimp. They did get their bloom, but it was not the algae they were expecting.

Instead of large diatom algae, they got millions and millions of haptophytes, a tiny algae common in the open ocean and extremely abundant in the fossil record. They are also the fellows responsible for the white foam you sometimes see on the edge of beaches.

Most importantly, however, they are the food of choice for the equally common copepod, a shrimp-like crustacean who complete with krill for forming the largest animal biomass on earth. And perhaps, having the largest appetite.

Sometimes brilliance arises from thinking outside the box. Sometimes not. The copepods ate all the haptophytes and Planktos' dreams. It seems the wee shrimp-like fellows didn’t get the memo. Instead they got an all you can eat coupon to a fine seafood buffet.

TERRESTRIAL TREASURE

AVIGNON: ROMAN ARCHAEOLOGY

MARINE BEAUTIES FROM JURASSIC SEAS

A surprisingly warm sunny morning sparked a return trip to the Cretaceous-Jurassic exposures near Harrison Lake, British Columbia. The lake and hotsprings at Harrison are an easy one to two hour drive from Vancouver. My work leads me a ways past the town exploring logging roads along the lake.

Without goggles you could easily lose an eye working the unyielding siltstones. Much of my collecting was spent wincing as small, bullet-like projectiles went pinging past my face… others making contact but not enough to deter my efforts. No pain no gain.

After a few hours of work I've done pretty well. Looking down at my pack I'd managed to unearth a fine selection of ammonites of the Callovian Mysterious Creek Formation, including the small, fairly well preserved Cadoceras (Paracadoceras) tonniense and smallish Cadoceras (Pseudocadoceras) grewingki. The other bits and pieces were mostly fragments but included one relatively complete specimen of the larger, smooth Cadoceras comma and some perfectly preserved belemnites, cigar-looking numbers from ancient squid. For interest, I've popped in an image of an ammonite from Fernie. I'll post one of the ones from Harrison when I did out my digital.

Interestingly, the ammonites from here are quite similar to the ones found within the lower part of the Chinitna Formation, Alaska and Jurassic Point, Kyuquot, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I'll have to write up the trip I did with the VIPS to Kyuquot a few years back. We enjoyed fantastic scenery and wild west coast adventures. I'd like it on record that that was not the trip the coast guard had to be called, but it remains memorable from the great company, fantastic fossils and the fact that my car was stolen at some point. Ah, living.

The siltstone here at Harrison has also offered up a small section of vertebra from a poorly preserved marine reptile, a find I'm rather keen to make one day. So, after much hammer swinging, I've enjoyed a splendid day, collected beautiful specimens and feel a wee bit closer to the big find. Returning like a soldier from battle, I carefully package and log my booty, returning home the happier for it.

I'll be heading back to the fossil beds of the Myseterious Creek Formation at Harrison on Monday, May 18, 2009, as part of a fossil field trip for the 2009 BC Paleontological Symposium. If you're about, feel free to pop by and say hello. I drive the big black tank, and yes, it's alarmed!

BOWRON LAKE PORTAGE

505-MILLION YEAR OLD MYSTERY SOLVED

Scientists from Sweden’s Uppsala University have pieced together a bizarre marine predator who trolled the seas some 505-million years ago. Hurdia, an extinct species of anomalocaridid, had a giant head, protruding hollow spike-shaped head shield and spiny claws for capturing prey. They look to have made a living swimming in the water column clawing around for prey to scoop into their tube shaped mouths. They lived at the time of trilobites, tuzoia and other soft-bodied marine creatures long extinct.

Bits and pieces of Hurdia have shown up in museums all over the world. Until now, much like their more robust cousin, Anomalocaris, they’ve been left unidentified or wildly mislabeled. Imagine Leggo clicked together sideways, upside down or split in two. Scientific papers have documented the many attempts at getting it right with respect to their body design.

Allison Daley, lead author on the study, is happy to set the record straight and will publish the groups findings in this month’s journal Science.

FOSSILS

THE CAMBRIAN: 570 MILLION YEARS AGO

The Cambrian was a time of expansion for the Earths more complex animal forms. Molluscs and arthropods or their friends with hard shells and exoskeletons dominated the seas. The photo is of a Wanneria dunnae from the Eager Formation, Rifle Range site near Cranbrook from a trip in 1990.

Cambrian Fossil Sites in Western Canada:

Tanglefoot and Eager Formation Trilobites, Mount Field Burgess Shale Soft-bodied marine critters and the fossils from the Mount Stephen Trilobite beds.