Fossil survey to begin at Lucy Vincent Beach

By Aubrey Gibavic - February 8, 2007

Greg Whitmore made his first authentic fossil discovery on the grounds of his campsite at Woodstock '99. Now Mr. Whitmore is initiating a fossil survey at two decidedly different locations: the cliffs at Lucy Vincent Beach and Aquinnah. He hopes to find specimens dating from before the last ice age.

Mr. Whitmore said the two cliffs are unique in that they are a few of the only remaining areas in New England where fossils from before the last ice age can be found. The age of some of the specimens found in the cliffs is still unknown, so Mr. Whitmore will use radiometric dating to place them.

He estimated that most of the material on Lucy Vincent is likely from the Pleistocene era, which was just prior to the ice ages, but he hopes to find specimens specifically from the mid-Cretaceous era, which was about 30 million years ago, and the mid-Tertiary, which was 100 million years ago.

Greg Whitmore displays a handful of fossils he found surprisingly swiftly by sifting through the sand on Lucy Vincent Beach. Photo by Aubrey Gibavic

"They are pretty unique in New England in that they're pretty much the only record of a couple of different ages," he said of both cliffs faces. "It just kind of lucked out that these two sections were kind of at the end of the glacial advance so they really weren't touched or affected that much by the glaciers; so there's some really nice material there."

Yesterday Mr. Whitmore received preliminary approval from the Chilmark Conservation Commission, but still needs to get final approval from the Chilmark selectmen and beach committee. The Wampanoag Tribe sent a letter to Chilmark selectmen asking them to deny any fossil survey in that town. Mr. Whitmore submitted a proposal to the tribe to survey the cliffs, and is waiting to speak before the Wampanoag tribal council.

Infatuated by toy dinosaurs as a child, Mr. Whitmore went on to receive an undergraduate degree in biology and archeology, and a master's in zoology from the University of New Hampshire (UNH). He will earn his doctorate from the university upon the completion of the Island fossil survey. He will submit a dissertation, and his findings will be displayed at a university or museum for viewing and research.

"They're very fragile environments and everybody I'm sure is well aware of the extreme erosion that's going on there, especially Lucy Vincent Beach," he said. "If a real proper survey isn't done at this point it's just going to be gone pretty soon."

(Left) A fossil of a whale's jawbone, found at the Gay Head Cliffs.

Mr. Whitmore, the regional ecologist for the Trustees of Reservations, has been tossing around the idea of researching the cliffs for the past six months, and recently received backing from a UNH professor and went ahead with the permitting process.

The fossil survey will entail little digging, but mostly picking, sweeping and sifting. Mr. Whitmore said on a good day he could leave Lucy Vincent with 20 pounds of fossils.

"Everything just kind of falls down from the cliffs because the erosion is so rapid," Mr. Whitmore said. "A lot of the material is exposed. If I were to collect, I would just go and pick it right off. It's not like you take a pick-ax to it."

Mr. Whitmore said his main tool would be a large sifter, which would sort out the shark, whale, porpoise and seal remains from the sand.

On a recent sunny and bitterly cold morning, Mr. Whitmore stomped through the sand on Lucy Vincent, getting his face within inches of the eroding cliffs, and plucking fragmented shark's teeth from the sand with ease.

"The material is just there for people to look at," Mr. Whitmore said. "I've seen a lot of people just loading their pockets up with fossils, and those specimens are lost and they'll never be recorded."

Shark teeth found at Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark. Photos courtesy of Greg Whitmore

He pointed to a large gash in the cliff face. A couple recently spent time and energy extracting a large megalodon tooth from the edifice, he said. A megalodon was a giant prehistoric shark that is estimated to have lived between 1.6 and 16 million years ago, and is considered to be the largest predatory fish ever to have lived.

"All year-round, the material is exposed every day," Mr. Whitmore said. "Every time you get a good wind storm or a rain storm they get exposed again."

Civilian damage and interference is one concern he has about working on Lucy Vincent. With year-round work, the survey will take up to three years to complete, during which time Mr. Whitmore will erect a barrier and sign to keep people away from the research area. He doesn't anticipate much of a problem on the Gay Head Cliffs, as people have become accustomed to staying off them.

"Obviously it's a public beach and if I were to do this study properly, I would have to have some type of restricted access...and that may or may not fly with the town and the public," he said.

Fossils like these are plentiful at Lucy Vincent Beach, where Greg Whitmore, above, is sifting through the sand. Photo by Aubrey Gibavic

Mr. Whitmore has consulted the Chilmark beach committee, which will allow him to enter the exclusive shoreline in the summer months, even though he is a West Tisbury resident.

Retired geologist and Oak Bluffs resident Charles Ratté fully supports Mr. Whitmore's venture.

"I think he's got a wonderful project. We need to know a great deal more about the age of those sediments," said Mr. Ratté, who served as the Vermont State Geologist for 14 years. "There's plenty of research that's needed for what's in the Lucy Vincent cliffs. There's quite a bit to be done there."

Mr. Ratté has lived on the Island for 10 years and used to lead walks around various parts of the Island, where he would identify rocks and specimens to the group. Now well into his retirement, Mr. Ratté said it always struck him that parts of the Lucy Vincent and the Gay Head cliffs were highly undocumented.

"There's been a lot of disruption of those sediments, largely by the fact that the thick glacial ice that overrode them caused them to be wrinkled and folded. So, structurally, there's a lot to be learned," Mr. Ratté said, adding that Mr. Whitmore's survey is just in time because of the rapid erosion of the cliffs.

"I think his project is worthwhile. I certainly would approve of whatever he's doing to enlighten the rest of the world."