San Diego whale unearthed at the zoo

San Diego whale fossils have been discovered at the San Diego zoo by a construction crew. The whale is believed to be 3-million-years-old.

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Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo/AP
Joe El Adli, San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist, brushes away loose sand while cataloging the tail vertebrae of a 3-million-year-old whale fossil on Sept. 17.

Thar' she blows!

Well, she used to anyway.

A 3-million-year-old whale has been discovered at the San Diego Zoo.

And this whale wasn't found by a whaling ship but by some guys wearing hard hats.

A construction crew had been working on a storm water tank at the zoo, and while using an excavator to dig through the fine grain sand they struck something hard.

While whale fossils have been found in this area before, this 24-foot long baleen whale seemed to be remarkably intact and well perserved.

In a San Diego News article, Sarah Siren, a paleontological field manager with the San Diego Natural History Museum said, "It’s rare to have a skeleton this complete."

Other ancient sea fossils have been unearthed in the region, including a 75-million-year-old femur from a duck-billed dinosaur and portions of a 3.5-million-year- old sea cow found in Chula Vista, according to the Los Angeles Times.

After the whale fossil is completely excavated, the remains will be taken to the Balboa Park museum, in San Diego, for further examination and possibly be put on public display.

Dug up anything intriguing lately? Let us know in the comments below and keep it clean, folks.

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