Visit Fossil Beach and see mega sharks and predatory whales

FOSSILS dating back 30 million years and stories about their discovery along Surf Coast beaches are featured for the first time in a new exhibition at Torquay’s Australian National Surfing Museum.

Fossil Beach exhibits remains of marine creatures including 18-metre mega sharks, and a predatory whale identified only during the past two decades.

It also highlights the stories of the ‘citizen scientists’ who discovered the fossils on local beaches.

The exhibition includes a 3D printed replica of the 25 million-year-old whale skull discovered by local surfer Staumn Hunder at Jan Juc during the late 1990s.

The previously unidentified specimen – named Janjucetus Hunderi in acknowledgement of its location and Mr Hunder – rewrote the evolution story of the baleen whale family which includes blue and humpback whales.

Baleen whales filter feed on microscopic plankton.

The Janjucetus Hunderi had teeth sharper than a lion.

Museum Victoria palaeontologist Dr Erich Fitzgerald, who studied the skull described the find as ground-breaking.

“This fossil literally rewrites our understanding of baleen whales. It provides an entirely new perspective on their evolution,” Dr Fitzgerald said.

“It was so primitive that it has teeth, and it was not a passive, gentle giant like today’s blue whale or humpback whale but a voracious predator.”

Fossil Beach features fossilised bones from other Janjucetus Hunderi found locally, as well as fossilised teeth from two extinct mega shark species which lived between 20 and 30 million years ago.

One species grew to almost twice the size of today’s biggest great white sharks, and another, the megaladon, up to an incredible 18 metres long.

“This exhibition is a fascinating exploration of the Surf Coast’s unique prehistoric marine story,” Mayor Rose Hodge said.

“Highlighting of the stories behind the finding of these fossils on our local shores, by ‘citizen scientists’, adds a wonderful extra level of interest.

“This is an exhibition which really captures imagination.”

Fossil Beach includes activities for children and will be on display from 9am to 5pm daily until December 2019.

See australiannationalsurfingmuseum.com.