Hike to Sunset Beach and discover a wealth of fossil whale material preserved there. Why are the fossils here and what can they tell us?
Sat, April 29, 2023, 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM PDT
Tickets: $80 members, $90 non-members
About this event
Geologists think in accordance with the principle that the present is key to the past. They look at the landscape today as both product and process, using what they observe to form an understanding of how the world works on time scales beyond the confines of human existence.
The fossil record underpins that understanding, preserving glimpses of organisms that inhabited the planet in times past, as well as painting pictures of the environments and conditions those organisms experienced when they were alive.
Sunset Beach is home to a particular abundance of fossils - scattered remains of whales that cruised the coast of North America millions of years ago. But why are the fossils concentrated there, especially, and what might that concentration suggest about the past of the Point Reyes peninsula itself? The whales at Sunset have a story to tell, if only we stop to listen.
Please be aware, this will be a rigorous 10 mile (total) hike.
Don Jolley is a long-time resident of west Marin, and served for three decades as a teacher of Maths and Sciences at the Bolinas School. He has extensive experience in outdoor education, having led over fifty expeditions to the eastern sierra and western interior to study geology and earth's history as preserved in the fossil record.
Questions? Contact the PRNSA Field Institute fieldinstitute@ptreyes.org.