Upper Island Cove has me dazzled
Work in Progress by Ivan Morgan
The crucible of creation is different things to different people. Democracy? Ancient Greece. Western civilization? Ancient Mesopotamia. Human beings? Africa. The beginning of life? Upper Island Cove?
I am big into science and especially paleontology – the scientific study of prehistoric life through the examination of fossils. We are very lucky here in Newfoundland that we have a paleontology unit at Memorial University full of (pun intended) rock stars, and I am one of their groupies.
In 2022 a local couple, Tammy and Justin Coombs, found what they suspected was a fossil on their land and posted it on Newfound Fossils on Facebook. A group of paleontologists including Dr. Duncan McIlroy, whose formal title is Research Professor at Memorial (I prefer what someone called him: a palaeontologist’s paleontologist) visited the site near Upper Island Cove and quickly realized some of the oldest fossilized evidence of animal life on our planet was lying there. They lifted some moss to uncover rock exposed by the last Ice Ace glaciers, and there they were, hundreds of them.
The discovery has upended what the world thought they knew about animal life back then. At a time when the term “world class” is used so much it has lost all meaning this discovery is truly world class.
Never mind the fossils date back 550 million years. Never mind what is now Upper Island Cove was then below the equator. Never mind that these animals lived in the bottom ooze of a very deep forgotten ocean, all life was in the sea, there was no life on land.
Understand these creatures were once alive and their fossilized remains now overlook Conception Bay. Scientists and students from our university immediately knew what they were and are now studying and protecting them. The work is hard and painstaking. They’re using wooden hand tools so as not to scrape the fossils. They work tirelessly for little or no pay. They don’t know how big a site they have.
They are dedicated. Want to know how dedicated? Dr. McIlroy bought the site with his own money. He and his students are protecting it. For now, the location is a secret to protect it from onlookers and skeets.
I’m not going too far into the science of all this. I think it’s fascinating, but many may not. Want the science? Dr. McIlroy has an excellent presentation on YouTube (Expanding the Kotlin Crisis: Extinction Across the Ediacaran Biota). Fill yer boots!
Basically, the discovery adds to our knowledge of the first major mass extinction of life on earth. Most of us know about the Really Bad Day 66 million years ago when a massive asteroid struck the Earth and ended the age of dinosaurs, but there have been five major extinction events and the first one, called the Kotlin Crisis, now appears to have been the worst. And the proof lies on a hill near not too far from Harbour Grace. Pretty damn cool.
This discovery has raised more questions than answers, but such is the nature of science.
We should all care about the amazing work these dedicated folks are doing, expanding the knowledge of how life came about.
They are also helping the local communities they are working in. Most of us know of Mistaken Point, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This may be another.
I was over the moon when I went to Dr. McIlroy’s lecture at the Geo Centre several weeks ago (standing room only) to see local municipal politicians from the area were there. Like most municipal politicians, they are on the ground and know what’s on the go. They see the value of all this for their communities.
Dr. McIlroy has started a non-profit to finance the site (as everything to date has been coming out of his pocket) and the goal is to erect a building to cover and protect the site. Science aside, this means economic activity for an area that really needs it.
What bothers me is that the people currently in charge of our university don’t seem to see the value of this work. To even contemplate selling the Geo Centre is as tragic as it is offensive. The people doing this work, and others, make the Geo Centre what it is, a jewel in our academic crown, not a bargaining chip with a cash-strapped government over funding.
It’s hard when you see the energy, the enthusiasm, the dedication and passion of the people involved, and then see the nonsense the university administration is getting up to.
Makes me think of what was said about the soldiers who fought in World War One and their leaders: lions lead by donkeys.
Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com