B.C. holds vote for favourite fossil after museum gets 18,000 donated

COURTENAY, B.C. – British Columbians who haven’t yet marked their ballots in a referendum on electoral reform could distract themselves a little longer by voting for an official fossil symbol for the province.

The Forests and Lands Ministry came up with the online vote after the Royal BC Museum in Victoria received a donation of 18,000 fossils dating back 52 million years.

There are seven fossil candidates to choose from and the curator of the Courtenay and District Museum and Paleontology Centre is rooting for a 15-metre marine reptile to win big.

Pat Trask says the discovery of the Elasmosaur in 1988 contributed to the growth of paleontology in the province as amateurs and professionals came together to discuss the find.

He says international scientists have gone through the Courtenay museum’s collections that were found on Vancouver Island to describe new creatures.

The other candidates for official fossil of B.C. are the ammonite, salmon, lace crab, trilobite, ichthyosaur and yabeina columbiana.