Five species of whales, four species of seals, walrus, and numerous species of fish are known to have existed in the Champlain Sea because of fossils that have been found in Ontario, Quebec, New York State and Vermont in the sediments left by the Champlain Sea . In a paper published in 2014, when commenting on the mammals in the Champlain Sea, Richard Harington and his co-authors stated:
“Several species of whale, particularly those adapted to cool inshore conditions, lived in the Champlain Sea. Approximately 80% of whale specimens recorded from Champlain Sea deposits are white whales. Other whale species represented are humpback, bowhead, finback, and harbor porpoise. Seals, particularly those adapted to breeding on pack ice, such as harp and bearded , and those adapted to breeding on land-fast ice, such as ringed , also lived in the Champlain Sea. An open coastal water species, the harbor seal has likewise been found near the southern margin of the sea. Walruses, which tend to follow the pack-ice edge, have also been reported. These marine mammal fossils suggest the former presence of Arctic to boreal waters, with sea ice generally present.” [Scientific Names and Citations Omitted.]
[C. Richard Harington, Mario Cournoyer, Michel Chartier, Tara Lynn Fulton, Beth Shapiro, 2014, Brown bear (Ursus arctos) (9880 ± 35 BP) from late-glacial Champlain Sea deposits at Saint-Nicolas, Quebec, Canada, and the dispersal history of brown bears, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2014, 51(5): 527-535, http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2013-0220 ]
Below I’ve provided information on ten of the whales found in Eastern Ontario. Where available, I’ve used the reports by those who first described the specimens. While I’ve entitled this posting “Hunting for Whales in Eastern Ontario” I might more accurately have used the title “Happening Upon Whales in Eastern Ontario” as only two of the fossil whale occurrences in Ontario appear to have been found by someone out looking for fossils. (Both Walter Billings, an architect, and Dr. Mark McElhinney, a dentist, who found two of the specimens, were active members of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. Walter Billings in particular was well known as a collector of fossils.) All of the rest of the fossils appeared while excavating sand and gravel, excavating clay for brick, or digging wells. I noticed a similar pattern when looking at the fossils of seals and walrus found in Champlain Sea sediments and the fossil whales found in the Champlain Sea deposits in Quebec, Vermont and New York State. While a few specimens have been found when looking for fossils, the vast majority, and the most complete specimens, have been found by chance when excavating sand and gravel, excavating clay for brick, digging wells or digging on farms. However, I don’t expect that will stop me or anyone else from going out to look for a whale.
1.) White Whale (Beluga) found at Cornwall, Ontario in 1870
In a paper read before the Natural History Society, Montreal, on October 31, 1870 Elkanah Billings, Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of Canada, described the finding of this fossil. He then submitted an abstract of his talk where he mentioned:
"Several months ago, Mr. Charles Poole, of Cornwall, wrote to the Secretary of the Society that a large skeleton, resembling that of an Icthyosaurus, had been found in that neighborhood, by the men engaged in excavating clay for brick. In another letter he stated that Mr. T. S. Scott, architect, of this city, had procured the lower jaws. On receipt of this information, Mr. Billings called upon Mr. Scott, who very liberally presented the jaws to the Geological Museum. Mr. Billings then went up to Cornwall, and obtained from Mr. Poole the bones which were in his possession. These were discovered in the Postpliocene clay about sixteen feet below the surface. They are those of a small whale closely allied to the White Whale, Beluga leucas, which lives in the Northern seas, and at certain seasons abounds in the Gulf and lower parts of the St. Lawrence. The lower jaws are nearly perfect. The skull and upper jaws are much damaged and some of the parts lost. Thirty-five of the vertebras, the two shoulder blades, most of the ribs, and a number of small bones were collected. The length of the animal was probably about fifteen feet. The lower jaws have the sockets of eight teeth upon the right side and of seven on the left. The number of teeth in the upper jaw could not be ascertained. ... The Cornwall locality is about half a mile from the railway station, sixty feet above the St. Lawrence, and over two hundred feet above the level of the sea.”
[Billings, Elkanah, 1870 , Canadian. Naturalist and Quarterly. Journal of Science, vol. V, pp. 438-439) https://archive.org/details/canadiannaturali05natu ]
Thirty-seven years later J.F. Whiteaves commented, when reviewing the White Whale specimens in the collection of the Geological Survey of Canada, that “By far the most perfect of these is the fine specimen from Cornwall in the museum of the Geological Survey of Canada. It is a nearly perfect skeleton of an adult individual, which, as now mounted, is a little more than twelve feet in length, though a few of the vertebrae are missing.” [Whiteaves, J.F., 1907, Notes on the Skeleton of a White Whale, Ottawa Naturalist, vol. xx, No. 11, pp. 214-216 page 214 ]
2.) Humpback Whale found north of Smiths Falls, Lanark County, Ontario in 1882
J. W. Dawson of McGill University in Montreal described the finding of this fossil as follows:
“These [bones] were found, as I am informed by Archer Baker, Esq., General Superintendent of the Canada Pacific Railway, "in a ballast pit, at Welshe's, on the line of the C. P. Railway, three miles north of Smith's Falls, and thirty-one miles north of the St. Lawrence River, in the Township of Montague, County of Lanark. They occurred in gravel at a depth of 30 feet from the surface, and about 50 feet back from the original face of the pit.
... The bones secured consist of two vertebrae and a fragment of another with a portion of a rib, and others are stated to have been found. They are in good preservation, but have become white and brittle through the loss of their animal matter. On comparison with such remains of whales as exist in the Peter Redpath Museum, and with the figures and descriptions of other species, I have little doubt that they belong to the Humpback whale,... The larger of the two vertebrae, a lumbar one, has the centrum eleven inches in transverse diameter, and is seven inches in length. The smaller, a dorsal, is ten inches in its greater diameter, and four in length. Through the kindness of Mr. Baker the specimens have been deposited in the Peter Redpath Museum”
[ J. W. Dawson, 1883, On portions of the Skeleton of a Whale from gravel on the line of the Canada Pacific Railway, near Smith's Falls, Ontario, American Journal of Science, ser. 3, vol. XXV, p. 200) https://archive.org/details/mobot31753002153036 The Canadian Naturalist and Quarterly Journal of Science, New Series, Volume 10 pages 385-387
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/31810#page/405/mode/1up ]
3.) White Whale (Beluga) found at Williamstown, Glengarry County, about 10 miles north-east of Cornwall in 1901
Oliver P. Hay, of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, described the finding of this fossil as follows:“ In Professor Perkins's paper just cited it is stated that Edward Ardley, assistant curator at Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, had found here a few bones of a white whale, the hyoid, a few phalanges, and rib fragments. ... . From Mr. Ardley, through Mr. Arthur Willey, curator of Redpath Museum, the present writer has learned that these bones were dug up from a depth of 14 feet, in a well sunken in the Leda clay. Under the surface soil was a band of sandy clay containing shells of Saxicava and Mya. Beneath this was a stiff blue clay showing stratification and containing shells of Leda.”
[Oliver P. Hay, 1923, The Pleistocene of North America and its vertebrated animals from the states east of the Mississippi River and from the Canadian provinces east of longitude 95 degrees, Published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C., 499 pages, at pages 17-18.
https://archive.org/stream/pleistoceneofnor00hayouoft#page/16/mode/2up
4.) White Whale (Beluga) found in Pakenham Township, Lanark County in 1906
J.F. Whiteaves, staff palaeontologist with of the Geological Survey of Canada, described the finding of this fossil as follows:
“On the 5th of September, 1906, a skeleton, which is obviously that of a very young individual of this same White Whale or Beluga, was found by Mr. Patrick Cannon, while digging a well on his farm, on lot 21 of the 11th concession of Pakenham, Lanark Co., Ont. The Rev. J. R. H. Warren, of the village of Pakenham, informs the writer that this skeleton was embedded in blue clay, fourteen feet below the surface, and that only a portion of it was dug out. In digging the well, he adds, some depth of blue clay was first bored through, then a mixture of clay and shells, in which the skeleton was found, was struck, and the excavation ended in more blue clay. The well has since been incased or lined with stone, and now contains a considerable depth of water, so that it may be somewhat difficult to dig out the remainder of the skeleton.
The bones that have been exhumed so far, from this excavation, with samples of the mixture of clay and shells in which they were found, have been kindly lent to the writer by Mr. Cannon. The former consist of a nearly perfect skull (with only a few of the teeth missing) and one of the tympanic bones, with most of the cervical vertebrae and three of the dorsals with some of their epiphyses. Or, as interpreted more definitely by Mr. L. M. Lambe, ot the skull, the left tympanic, the atlas, axis, third, fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae, and the second, third and fourth dorsal, with some of their epiphyses.”
[Whiteaves, J.F., 1907, Notes on the Skeleton of a White Whale, Ottawa Naturalist, vol. xx, No. 11, pp. 214-216 page 215 https://archive.org/details/ottawanaturalist20otta ]
Photographs of the Cranium (top view showing the blow hole) and mandibles for the White Whale (Beluga) found near Pakenham are Figure 28 at page 45 in the Royal Ontario Museum’s 1984 publication by Frances J.E. Wagner entitled Fossils of Ontario Part 2: Macroinvertebrates and Vertebrates of the Champlain Sea https://archive.org/details/fossilsofontario02bolt
A photograph of the Cranium and lower jaws of the whale found near Pakenham appears as Figure 5 at page 53 in Harington, C.R. and Occhietti, S., 1988, Inventaire systématique et paléoécologie des mammifères marins de la Mer de Champlain (fin du Wisconsinien) et de ses voies d’accès, Géographie physique et Quaternaire, vol. 42, n̊ 1, 1988, p. 45-64.
http://www.erudit.org/revue/gpq/1988/v42/n1/032708ar.html?vue=resume
In addition, a photograph of the Cranium and lower jaws appears in a history of Pakenham published by Verna Ross McGiffin (V. R. McGiffin, 1963, Pakenham, Ottawa Valley Village, 1823-1860, Mississippi Publishers, Pakenham, Ontario.)
5.) White Whale (Beluga) found in Ottawa East, Carleton County [Now falling within the City of Ottawa, Ontario]
In 1910, Mr. Lawrence M. Lambe, paleontologist with the Geological Survey Branch of the Department of Mines, Canada reported that Mr. A. Penfold had presented to the Survey a caudal vertebra of Delphinapterus leucas, Pallas which he had found at Ottawa East, at a depth of 25 feet, while digging a well.
[ L. M. Lambe, 1910, Summary Report of the Geological Survey Branch of the Department of Mines, Canada. for 1909, at p. 273 https://archive.org/details/summaryreportofg1909geol ]
6.) White Whale (Beluga) found in 1913 at Nepean Township, Carleton County [Now falling within the City of Ottawa, Ontario]
In 1914, Mr. Lawrence M. Lambe of the Canadian Geological Survey, stated that Walter Billings of Ottawa had presented to the Survey a caudal vertebra of Delphinapterus leucas found in Pleistocene gravel on lot 15, concession 5, of Nepean township. The locality is near Jock River, a stream which flows northeasterly and enters Rideau River about 11 miles south of Ottawa.[Lawrence. M. Lambe, 1914, Summary Report of the Geological Survey Branch of the Department of Mines, Canada. for 1913, at page 299.]
7.) White Whale (Beluga) found in 1924 at a Sand Pit 5 miles South of Ottawa [Now falling within the City of Ottawa, Ontario]
Charles Mortram Sternberg, Assistant Biologist (the equivalent to a curator) to the National Museum of Canada, mentions:
“Scapula and four vertebrae of D. leucas from sand pits, 5 miles south of Ottawa, presented by Dr. Mark McElhinney in 1924.”
[C. M. Sternberg, 1951, White Whale and Other Pleistocene Fossils From the Ottawa Valley,
National Museum of Canada Bulletin 123, pages 259-261 at 259.]
8.) Two White Whales (Belugas) found in 1948 at a Sand Pit near Uplands Airport 5 miles South of Ottawa [Now falling within the City of Ottawa, Ontario]
Charles Mortram Sternberg, Assistant Biologist to the National Museum of Canada, mentions:
“On June 19, 1948, Mr. S. G. Carr-Harris telephoned the National Museum that the skull and partial skeleton of some fossil had been dug out of the R.R. Foster sand pit near Uplands Airport, about five miles south of Ottawa, by Mr. J. B. Rolland, the shovel operator. The specimen, which proved to be the skeleton of a White Whale (Delphinapterus leucas), consisted of a splendidly preserved skull (minus lower mandibles), 20 vertebrae, several ribs, a scapula, humerus, radius, and various other bone fragments. It is probable that the complete skeleton was present originally but that part of it was removed with excavated material before the specimen was discovered. The specimen was preserved near the center of a thick bed of fairly clear sand. A few days later the lower jaw of a smaller individual was recovered from the same locality.”
[C. M. Sternberg, 1951, White Whale and Other Pleistocene Fossils From the Ottawa Valley,
National Museum of Canada Bulletin 123, pages 259-261 at 259.]
9.) Bowhead Whale Found at White Lake, near Arnprior, Renfrew County, Ontario in 1975
This whale was found in by Clyde Kennedy who was looking for campsites of Paleo-Indians. In the summer of 1975 he identified the sand and gravel deposit owned by John Hanson of White Lake village as an ancient shore surface that was worth investigating. In an article published in 1977 in the Arnprior newspaper The Chronicle he mentions “Confirmation of this conclusion came on October 10,1975 when Allan Jones, while taking sand from the pit about eight miles southwest of Arnprior, found bones from the right fore fin of a bowhead whale. Allan found some of the bones at the pit and others the next day when he was spreading sand he had delivered to a schoolyard in Renfrew. Identification of the bones was made by Dr C R Harington, National Museum of Natural Sciences... [who ] told me the bones were from a mature bowhead whale, the mammal was probably between 40 to 65 feet long and weighed between 40 and 70 tons.”
Further bones were found at the pit in 1977. In the article Clyde Kennedy states “ I learned that Terry Bandy, while loading sand at the Hanson Pit on September 23 this year, had found three pieces of a large bone. His father, Glen Bandy, a Glasgow Station area farmer, kindly showed me the pieces, which totalled about seven feet in length. I informed Dr Harington who visited White Lake with me and identified the find as a whale rib. It was once longer than seven feet for a missing piece was not found... [On a subsequent visit, with further digging, we found and] completed the exposure of the nine-foot bone with trowels and paint brushes. I guessed it was a whale jawbone, which was later confirmed by Dr Harington.”
[Clyde C. Kennedy, Nov 30, 1977, Whales bones found, The Chronicle.
http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/archeo/kichisibi/k300c-clydeswhale.shtml ]
Photographs showing the bones being dug up can be seen in this article.
A drawing of the skeleton of the bowhead whale showing the parts recovered at White Lake appears as Figure 7 in Harington and Occhietti, 1988, at page 55.
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A Map Showing Localities Where Fossils of Whales, Seals and Walrus have been Found in Champlain Sea Deposits
On the following map I’ve plotted the localities where fossils of whales, walrus and seals have been found in Champlain Sea sediments. I believe that I’ve plotted all of the whales and walrus. There were numerous fossil seals found at locations in Ottawa and Montreal, and I may not have them all.
That map is based on Figure 4 that is found in the following paper:
Steadman, D.W., Kirchgasser, W.T. and Pelkey, D.M., 1994. A Late Pleistocene white whale (Delphinapterus leucas) from Champlain Sea sediments in northern New York, p. 339-345. In E. Lending, ed., Studies in Stratigraphy and Paleontology in Honor of Donald W. Fisher. New York State Museum Bulletin 481, 380 p. Their drawing is said to be modified from the following two papers:
C. R. Harington et Serge Occhietti, 1988, Inventaire systématique et paléoécologie des mammifères marins de la Mer de Champlain (fin du Wisconsinien) et de ses voies d’accès, Géographie physique et Quaternaire, vol. 42, n̊ 1, 1988, p. 45-64.
http://www.erudit.org/revue/gpq/1988/v42/n1/032708ar.html?vue=resume
C. R. Harington, 1989, Marine Mammals of the Champlain Sea, and the problem of whales in Michigan. Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 35: 225-240.
I have not yet been able to find Harington, 1989.
Steadman,, Kirchgasser, and Pelkey’s Figure 4 plots fossil records of the White Whale (Beluga) from the Champlain Sea, shows the shoreline of the Champlain Sea at its maximum extent, overlying major modern bodies of water including Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, the Ottawa River and Lake Champlain. To their map I’ve added the localities of the occurrences of the Humpback Whale, Bowhead Whale, Finback Whale, Harbour Porpoise and seals referenced in Harington, C.R. and Occhietti, S., 1988.
I also added the occurrences of Walrus fossils found at Saint Julienne de Montcalm, Quebec and St. Nicolas, Quebec mentioned in:
M.A. Bouchard, C.R. Harington and J.-P. Guilbault, 1993, First evidence of walrus (Odobenus rosmarus L.) in Late Pleistocene Champlain Sea sediments, Quebec, Can. J. Earth Sci. 30, 1715-1719 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e93-150
Jean-Pierre Guilbault, 2013, New Acquisition: A walrus skull from St. Nicolas, Bulletin of the MPE, March 2013, pages 1-2 http://www.mpe-fossils.org/resources/Bulletin_MPE_April_9_2013.pdf
I also added the additional occurrences of White Whales referenced in:
C. Richard Harington, Serge Lebel, Maxime Paiement, Anne de Vernal, 2006, Félix: a Late Pleistocene White Whale (Delphinapterus Leucas) Skeleton From Champlain Sea Deposits at Saint-Félix-de-Valois, Québec, Géographie physique et Quaternaire, Volume 60, No, 2, p. 183-198 http://id.erudit.org/revue/gpq/2006/v60/n2/016828ar.html?lang=es
To my knowledge Félix, found north of Montreal, and Charlotte, the state fossil of Vermont, are the only whale fossils from the Champlain Sea that are referred to by a person’s first name.
Christopher Brett
Perth, Ontario
