L.A. County Search and Rescue team moves rare, 14-million-year-old whale bone
Digital Reporter
Saturday, August 2, 2014, 6:08 PM -
The LA County Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue team had a whale of a time rescuing a fossil on a hillside in Rancho Palos Verdes Friday.
It wasn't their typical rescue. They were about 14-million years late. Gary Johnson discovered the baleen whale head fossil back in 1978.
His family owned one of the homes on top of the hill. It was imbedded in a 1000 lb. rock.
At the time, he contacted a museum, but it didn't have the resources to extract the rock.
Johnson renewed his interest in the fossil earlier this year, when another rare whale fossil was found in the area.
SEE ALSO: Millions of jellyfish-like ceatures called velella velella take over U.S. west coast beaches
#LASD Montrose Search & Rescue help recover a 14 million yr old rare baleen whale fossil in a rock #RanchoPV @LASDHQ pic.twitter.com/xUvB7kZ2rK
— Nicole Nishida (@lasdNicole) August 1, 2014
This time, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles teamed up with the LA County Sheriff's Department's Search and Rescue team to retrieve it. It took a team of 10 rescuers four hours to do the job.
The museum plans to use the fossil for research.
It's believed only about 20 such fossils have ever been discovered.
RELATED VIDEO: "New fossils are being exposed everyday"
With files from CNN
