BLOG 10: On New Year’s Day we had a whale of a time

By Emily Fewster

In the first of the two rock dredges we carried out on New Year’s Day we found this curious 5.5 cm wide object in amongst the rocks.

A hunch from Karin Orth, one of our scientists on board, followed by a quick google search suggests it is a fossilised ear bone of a whale. These small bones are much denser than the other bones in a whale so are more likely to be preserved and fossilised. We don’t have a biologist on board this voyage but photos have been sent on to the Melbourne Museum for identification.

If you look at the diagram below the ear bones are indicated in pink so you can see where they are located in a whale skull.