Whale Bone Fossils - Santa Barbara County

[billie_morini]

Roxy Ridgeback and billie often look for fossilized whale bones when walking the beach. There is one area they know that usually rewards them. The first photo shows a "find" from yesterday.

[billie_morini]

Here is one from a couple of months ago.

[jaffa1949]

Flysch uplifted and tilted sedimentary deposits after turbidity burials of whale carcasses?
Later than walking whale days I would presume?

[billie_morini]

Here are some more photos from previous years.

[billie_morini]

still more...

[billie_morini]

still more...

[billie_morini]

still more...

[billie_morini]

last one for now...

[oldmansurfer]

So what makes you think they are whale bones as opposed to some other kind of mammal?

[BoMan]

The first photo shows a "find" from yesterday.

And a Digitus Secundus Manus!

[billie_morini]

So what makes you think they are whale bones as opposed to some other kind of mammal?

You mean there are other large mammals in the sea?

[oldmansurfer]

Animals die and fall into the ocean and topography changes over time

[Oldie]

Animals die and fall into the ocean ...

People, too. They drown, ships sink. But in terms of likelyhood, I think whales are a safe bet.

[billie_morini]

Animals die and fall into the ocean ...

People, too. They drown, ships sink. But in terms of likelyhood, I think whales are a safe bet.

'specially when:
1) one photo shows human foot for scale, indicating the size of some of these bones,
2) large and thick bones required to survive sea processes at deposition time followed by geologic processes that turned sediment to rock,
3) I've seen many more bones than those shared in photos (favorite is an entire flipper!),
4) the specific geologic formation (Cold Spring Sandstone) is well known for whale bones, and
5) professors from the local college and universities lead field trips to see this stuff (not necessary for me cuz I am professional geologist licensed by the State of California with experience in minerals exploration in which dinosaur bones are sometimes discovered)

But, too be fair, not all the bones in the Cold Spring Sandstone are whales. Surely, there are some dolphins, too. I have seen, photographed, and brought home Cold Spring Sandstone samples containing fossilized oyster shells. The first adventure Roxy Ridgeback ever had with billie was out collecting some rocks containing fossilized oyster shells. Roxy was puzzled by the experience and laid intently in the shade to watch what I was doing with rock hammers and chisels. From then on, she knew what to expect. Similarly, my best friend / northern Germany relative says, "Never go out with billie unless the vehicle has four wheel drive!"

[jaffa1949]

I can safely surmise from the pictures that no whales were in sinking ships during their fossilization!