REPLICATION OF BONES OF PLEISTOCENE BELUGA WHALE FROM NORFOLK, NEW YORK

Plaster casts of the bones of the beluga whale discovered in 1987 in 10,500 year old Champlain Sea deposits at Norfolk in St. Lawrence County, New York are being prepared for museum displays. The original specimen, described in Steadman and others, 1994 (N.Y. State Museum Bull. 481), was displayed at the 1989 NE GSA meeting at New Brunswick and its anatomy and environmental setting were presented at the 1993 NE GSA meeting in Burlington.

A representative sample of the sixty-three bones of NYSM #5095 have been replicated to illustrate major features of the skeleton including six teeth, the jaws, the bones surrounding the blowhole, and several post-cranial elements. The relatively short length and gracile nature of the skeleton, the tooth wear and degenerate (arthritic) bones of the cervical (neck) vertebrae suggest that the animal was a female of old age (>25 years). A selection of finished casts will be displayed along with the rubber molds and photos illustrating techniques of preparation.

The molds were prepared with Dow Corning Silastic E Molding compound and the casts with US Gypsum Hydrocal White Gypsum Cement with Elmer's White Glue added as a strengthening agent. The casts are coated with mixtures of coffee and water, sepia watercolor paint and india ink sprayed on with a spray gun and are finished with Krylon. A set of the replicated bones and teeth will be displayed at the proposed St. Lawrence Aquarium and Ecological Center near Massena, New York.