The Word From Above
Blue Beach
Receives Praise in Scientific Forums....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January, 19th
2007
To
Whom It May Concern:
I
am writing today in recognition of Blue Beach (also known as Hortons Bluff),
Nova Scotia, as one of the most important fossil localities in North America. As
such, the conservation of its fossils, both found and waiting to be collected,
is tantamount to ensure our better understanding of the animals that passed over
the fish-tetrapod boundary.
While
dramatic, fully articulated skeletons haven’t (yet) been found, the vertebrate
fossils of Blue Beach tell and interesting story. They represent the oldest
fossils within the mysterious gap in the fossil record known as “Romer’s Gap”.
Our emerging picture of the fauna from Blue Beach is one of transition; a
Devonian-like form is present with classic Mississippian embolomeres,
colosteids, and whatcheeriids. In no other place in the world can such fossils,
of such an age, be found, making them of critical international scientific
importance.
Past
collecting efforts, dating back to the days of Sir Charles Lyell, the father of
modern geology, and Sir William Dawson, eminent Canadian paleontologist from
McGill, have been intermittent and short in duration. Even more recent
collecting efforts, including those by Dr. Don Baird (then of Princeton), Dr.
Robert Carroll (McGill), and in recent years by myself, only visit the site for
a week or two every other year, and sometimes several years can pass between
visits. However, the geologic processes at work on Blue Beach, with the cliffs
being eroded twice daily by the highest tides in the world, mean that new
fossils potentially appear daily, and are rapidly destroyed when exposed. During
such collecting trips members of field parties would wax about how great it
would be to live on the site and be able to collect every day, as the tide
receeded. Little did we realize that our hopes would be met by Chris Mansky and
Sonja Wood.
The
intensive collecting efforts undertaken over the past decade by the Blue Beach
Fossil Museum (BBFM), has been instrumental in our new understanding of the
importance of this locality. Through concerted, daily, collecting literally tons
of new material has been saved from 
the
tides. Some of this material includes what for Blue Beach is a “holy grail”:
articulated elements. The footprints in particular point at a faunal richness
and diversity the fossils, biased by depositional processes to larger elements,
only hint. Just as importantly, the BBFM has served as a magnet to local amateur
collectors, whom have worked with the staff of the BBFM in furthering collecting
and preparation efforts, and have even donated their personal collections for
curation and display. This outreach effort is critical for a locality as
difficult to work in traditional methods; many hands make work light, as the
saying goes.
the
tides. Some of this material includes what for Blue Beach is a “holy grail”:
articulated elements. The footprints in particular point at a faunal richness
and diversity the fossils, biased by depositional processes to larger elements,
only hint. Just as importantly, the BBFM has served as a magnet to local amateur
collectors, whom have worked with the staff of the BBFM in furthering collecting
and preparation efforts, and have even donated their personal collections for
curation and display. This outreach effort is critical for a locality as
difficult to work in traditional methods; many hands make work light, as the
saying goes.
Finally,
the BBFM provides a unique venue for science education. Didactic displays in the
museum, and personal tours of the fossil areas on the beach provide information
about stories in paleontology that often go unheard among the giant,
cinematographic dinosaur specials on television. At the BBFM folks learn about
the diversity of archaic fishes that ultimately resulted in you and I, for my
money one of the most exciting stories evolution has to tell.
In
summary, I believe that Blue Beach is critically important to our understanding
of early tetrapod evolution. The work being done by the BBFM is a vital part of
my ongoing research in Nova Scotia. The education and outreach I have witnessed
during my visits has been extraordinary given the infrastructure in place, and I
strongly encourage any efforts that can be made to support the expansion of the
role the BBFM plays in its community along the Avon River, and to the
international scientific community.
Sincerely,
Dr.
Jason S. Anderson
Associate Professor
College
of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Calgary
Alberta,
Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Acadia
University
Wolfville,
Nova Scotia
Canada
B4P-2R6
Telephone:
(902) 585-1229
Facsimile: (902)
585-1071
June 12, 2007
To
whom it may concern:
I
am writing this letter to support the development of the Blue Beach Fossil
Museum (BBFM) initiative. In the past three years I have used the
existing BBFM and the interpretive services of Chris Mansky and Sonja Wood as an
integral component of the science education courses I teach in the School of
Education at Acadia University. The quality of this learning experience
as well as the enthusiasm student teachers gain for the fields of paleontology
and geology are in my experience unprecedented. The important attributes of the
physical site as one of the most important fossil sites in the world combined
with the interpretive and public education expertise of Chris and Sonja are
reasons why this experience has often been cited by the teachers as one of the
main highlights in their teacher training if not their academic career. In a time
when ‘junk’ science in the form of so-called ‘intelligent design’ is on the
ascendant in some regions, the early Carboniferous fossils of Blue Beach provide
one of the most outstanding opportunities for contributing to evolutionary
science education in Canada. I believe that in supporting this
initiative we will help build a lasting and significant educational and cultural
resource for all Canadians.
Sincerely,
Leo
Elshof, PhD.
Science
and Technology Education
Acadia
University School of Education
Wolfville,
Nova Scotia Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To
whom it may concern
I
am writing in support of the application by Sonja Wood, Director of the Blue
Beach Fossil Museum and Research Centre, to have the Blue Beach property rezoned
in order to allow a consortium of interested parties to establish a large modern
museum on part of the land.
I
visited the existing Blue Beach Museum in 2005 and congratulate Sonja and Chris
on their excellent displays, and especially on the collection of fossils from
Blue Beach , which is known throughout the palaeontological community as the
Horton Bluff locality. This locality is especially important on a world scale as
it preserves remains of tetrapods from a period in earth’s history in which only
four tetrapod localities are known. The period has such significance that it was
named “Romer’s Gap”, after Professor A. S. Romer of Harvard university who spent
much of his academic life searching for just such a collection of fossils as
have been found at Blue Beach. Romer’s Gap is important as it is in this 25
million year time period that tetrapods first invaded the land, and also the
time in which the two great living groups of tetrapods, the Amphibia and
Amniota, originated.
Yet
despite the diversity of life represented in the Blue Beach collections
(detailed in the letter from my graduate student, Katherine Parker), the
tetrapod fossils are relatively rare. Only by the efforts of Sonja and Chris,
and collectors such as Bob Godfrey, who visit the sites daily to search for more
remains exposed by each tide, are these collections able to be amassed. The
position of the Blue Beach Museum on land adjacent to the beach is vital in this
regard. A new purpose built Blue Beach Museum at this site should incorporate
preparation rooms and equipment that will enable fossils to be prepared,
conserved and catalogued as soon as they are collected, and rooms for visiting
researchers to study the collection, as well as displays of fossils to generate
revenue from the visiting public.
This
new museum should complement the recently established museum associated with the
Joggins locality, and others such as the museums at Miguasha and the Nova Scotia
Museum in Halifax, forming a chain of fossil centres across Canada. It would be
enhanced by the recognition of Blue Beach as a Geosite and its designation as a
Special Place, both potentially boosting international and local tourism. I
would also strongly support its designation as a World Heritage Site.
Dr.
Anne Warren
Associate
professor
Department
of Zoology
La
Trobe University
Melbourne
Victoria
3086
Australia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some Important
Quotes about the New Museum
Project at
Blue
Beach
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I
have been consulted by the group that have submitted the proposal for Joggins to
be accepted as a World Heritage site, and specifically argued that Blue Beach
should be considered as an equally important locality for our understanding of
the early history of land vertebrates.
From these
few miles of sea cliff and beach have come a host of fossils providing the only
evidence, anywhere in the world, that provides a link between the very archaic
amphibians of the Upper Devonian and the subsequent radiation of all later land
vertebrates.
Together
with the Parrsboro locality, these sites provide a spectrum across the
geological time scale that has no equal anywhere else in the world.”
Dr. Robert
L. Carroll, FRSC, FLS, Former Chairman,
Dep’t of
Biology and Curator, Redpath Museum,
McGill
University, Montreal, Canada.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Blue
Beach preserves the oldest extensive assemblage of fossil footprints of early
tetrapods on the planet. It thus provides a unique window into
understanding the early colonization of land, a window that no other site
provides.
Clearly,
Blue Beach is a world class (and it is a world famous) fossil site. It is a
national treasure that Canada and Nova Scotia are lucky to call their own. Indeed, its
scientific import ranks it with the other great Canadian fossil sites, such as
Joggins, Miguasha, Dinosaur Park and the Burgess Shale.
The Blue
Beach fossil site should be preserved, protected, studied and interpreted for
the betterment of all.”
Dr. Spencer G.
Lucas, Ph.D., Director, New Mexico Museum of
Natural History
and Science, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“As the
scientist who compiled the ‘comparative study’ central to the Joggins
nomination, I am an expert on the Carboniferous ecosystems of the world. If Joggins is
the finest example of a fossil site from the latter part of the Carboniferous
period, then Blue Beach is certainly one of the most globally important Early
Carboniferous localities. I urge you to support the development
of Blue Beach Museum proposal.”
Dr. Howard
Falcon-Lang, Lecturer in Palaeontology,
Dep’t of
Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, England.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“ I would
like to add my support for the creation of a new museum at Blue Beach, Nova
Scotia.
As with some of the other proponents I would rank this site as or more
important than the Joggins or Wasson Bluff since it marks a critical transition
from sea to land and definitely shows that at least some of these early land
animals came from the sea, not freshwater bodies.
The
province has already invested very heavily in both Joggins and Wasson’s Bluff
(Parrsboro), which are also extremely important sites. However, the
Blue Beach site pre-dates those sites by several 10’s of millions of years, and
is actually more important from a scientific and historic point of
view.”
Dr. David
Scott, President of Marine Geology Dep’t,
Dalhousie
University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I write
in strong support for your government’s recognition of the Blue Beach Fossil
Museum at Avonport, Nova Scotia, as a facility highly deserving…..
Given
the success of famous fossil localities elsewhere in the Maritimes (e.g.,
Joggins and Parrsboro) [and for that matter, elsewhere in Canada], the Blue
Beach fossil locality richly deserves similar respect and recognition, and
officially sponsored moral and financial support.”
Dr. David
Mossman, Professor of Geoscience, Emeritus,
Mount
Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I am writing in support of the Blue Beach Fossil Site, in order for it to be recognized as a World Class locality due to its unique and scientifically valuable fossil components, and to support the Sonja Wood and Chris Mansky of the Blue Beach Museum in their efforts to collect, exhibit, promote and educate the public on the Blue Beach site.
I believe
the Blue Beach fossil site is the most significant Early Carboniferous
vertebrate site of just the handful currently known.
I
fully support the Blue Beach fossil site being recognized as one of global
significance, and that promotional and educational facilities and infrastructure
would be of enormous value to the local community, Canadians, and to the global
scientific community.”
Dr.
Katherine Parker (BSc Hons) PhD., Palaeontology
LaTrobe
University, Melbourne, Australia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comments
Post a Comment