Ichthyosaur

 

 

             Thursday morning, a strange concept in a land where the sun does not set, brought cooler conditions. The air temperature had dipped to minus 1° Celsius (29° Fahrenheit) and the sky was a little cloudy. A small fire was made to the left of the dig to warm Lizzie up. Since she was the one dipping the burlap strips in the wet, cold plaster, she was constantly exposed, from the elbow down, to near freezing conditions. The risk of Hypothermia was ever present. Burlap bags were cut up into long strips, soaked in the plaster, and used to form the cast that surrounded Icky.

 

             Chuck Newman, with camera in hand, recorded the UAF team continuing the wrap the fossil in plaster. The threat of rain and snow forced the team to work quickly. If rain were to fall on the plaster before it properly cured, it would not set and the effort would be wasted.

 

 

         
Icky is painted with a stabilizing material called Paleo-Bond, then wrapped with plaster to make it rigid and safe to transport.

 

 

             Gary Mark Selinger, Special Projects Manager for the Director of the Museum, clears away debris at the base of the fossil in preparation for cutting the remaining rock away. A special gas powered rock cutting saw was used to slice away sections of the unwanted rock from around the Ichthyosaur in order for it to be pulled away from the bed.

 

 

         
Gary Selinger clears excess debris away from Icky.

 

 

             Below, David W. Norton (right), Ph.D., General Naturalist, assists Gary in clearing the debris as Kevin continues to wrap Icky in plaster. Dr. Norton was the team Ornithologist (Bird Man) responsible for ensuring that our operations did not interfere with any of the indigenous nesting raptors.

 

 

         
Dr. Dave Norton assists Gary and Kevin in wrapping up Icky.

 

 

             From the Audubon Society website: "Birds are an 'ecological litmus paper'. Because of their rapid metabolism and wide geographical range, they reflect changes in the environment quickly; they warn us of things out of balance sending out signals whenever there is a deterioration in the ecosystem..." - Roger Tory Peterson

 

             For those unaware, birds are the last in a long line of descendants from creatures that enjoyed considerable success in the environment from 230 to 65 million years ago - Dinosaurs!

 

 

             Dr. Gangloff and Gary Selinger place more plaster on Icky after some of the excess rock is cut away:

 

 

         
Dr. Gangloff and Gary Selinger place more plaster on Icky after some of the excess rock is cut away.

 

 

             As expected, a mixture of rain, snow, and ice started to fall before the preservation work was completed. A tarp was grabbed and hurriedly put in place while team members continued the preservation work:

 

 

         
A mixture of rain, ice, and snow required the placement of a tarp as a temporary shelter.

 

 

             On Friday morning, we rudely awoke to a layer of ice and snow covering the camp site. Visibility was near zero as the clouds lay upon the land. Icky could not be seen from the tent, nor could the helicopters - only 91 meters (300 feet) to our west. We thought about adjusting our plan to stay the weekend - or longer - as we wondered whether it would clear up at all:

 

 

         
Ice and snow covered the camp site by Friday morning. Temperatures dropped to about 29 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

 

             CW4 Mark Morgan, SPC Nathan Jorgensen, SSG Randy Havens, and SGT Wainwright all wake up refreshed, but quite cold, in the minus 1° C (29° F) weather that surprised the team:

 

 

         
An icy Friday morning chills CW4 Morgan, SPC Jorgensen, SSG Havens, and SGT Wainwright.

 

 

         
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