Time in the Comox Valley goes way back, millions of years before the First Nations, who arrived only thousands of years ago.
Courtenay's Prehistoric Past
Like Alberta's Badlands, the Courtenay countryside once teemed with prehistoric life, only it was undersea. A mere 80 million years ago, this was the land of the elasmosaur. This fearsome marine reptile was 12 metres/39.4ft long, with a head that was all teeth, a crazily long neck and a turtle-like body. It was also 15 million years older than the T-Rex. Hollywood would love it.
Courtenay & District Museum & Paleontology Centre
The Courtenay & District Museum & Palaeontology Centre is a spellbinding repository of bones and fossils. The commoners among them are shell fossils - clams, crabs and snails. The superstars are the monosaurs, giant undersea creatures with characteristics of both snakes and reptiles. Get up close and personal with the elasmosaur, whose near-fully preserved skeleton was unearthed on the banks of the Puntledge River in 1988. Other such critters range from the giant sea turtle to the tylosaur, a monosaur even bigger than the elasmosaur. Eek!
Fossil Hunting Tours
The museum offers fossil hunting tours seven days a week, twice a day through July and August, twice daily on Saturdays and Sundays in June, and daily in April and May. Booking in advance is essential. No wonder: Where else can an ordinary tourist go out and pick up an 80-million-year-old souvenir?
How to Spot Fossils
A museum staffer directs guests to a rendezvous on the banks of the Puntledge or Trent Rivers. After a short hike, searchers find themselves scrutinizing every rock and clump for ancient treasures. The guide dispenses clues and hammers. Searchers are soon splitting telltale rocks and scouring cliff sides for crocodile teeth. Quickly trained eyes spot clam and snail fossils embedded in rocks. A split stone reveals a fossilized baby lobster. Shrieks and hoots of triumph follow. For more information on fossils and fossil hunting in Courtenay, pop into the Visitor Centre.