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Tag: elasmosaur

Symposium 2025: Registration Closing!

Symposium 2025 is almost here! 

The Organizing Committee is pleased to confirm all speaking slots are filled and the presentations look fabulous. Registration continues until next Thursday. 

Attending Symposium? Artist Ray Troll will be unable to speak at the Symposium Banquet, in-person or virtually, as advertised. In his place, Pat Trask, Museum Curator of Natural History at Courtenay and District Museum and Palaeontology Centre, will share the journey of the baby Elasmosaur from its discovery in the Courtenay area to its home in the museum, and the marvelous things the specimen reveals. 

Unable to attend Symposium? You can still benefit from a beautiful piece of artwork available for pick up at Symposium; a beautiful high-quality colour poster of three heteromorph ammonites from the Nanaimo Group.

Order ahead for pick up at Symposium and avoid shipping charges (get a friend attending Symposium to pick is up for you), or have it delivered right to your home.  When ordering, select “local pickup” to save shipping costs if it’s being picked up at Symposium for you. 

Image courtesy of and copyright of Connie Resch.

See you at the symposium!

June 1: A Celebration of Life for Mike Trask

Mike was instrumental in advancing paleontology in BC having discovered the recently named elasmosaur with his daughter, Heather, in 1988. This transformational find precipitated the creation of the British Columbia Paleontological Alliance. Traskasaura sandrae now stands as our official provincial fossil emblem.

Michael John Trask

Jan 7, 1956 – May 15, 2025

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Courtenay and District Museum & Palaeontology Centre on June 1st at 1:30 pm.

Everyone is welcome.

Private Members Bill to Adopt the Elasmosaur as BC’s Provincial Fossil

Ronna-Rae Leonard, the provincial MLA for Courtenay-Comox, has introduced a private members bill to adopt the elasmosaur as BC’s provincial fossil. The bill would add a section to the existing Provincial Symbols and Honours Act to recognize the fossil, known scientifically as the Elasmosauridae, as a symbol of the Province of BC if passed.

The first elasmosaur fossil was found in November 1988 by Mike Trask and his daughter Heather, who were looking for fossils along the Puntledge River. Its discovery marked the first fossil of its kind found west of the Canadian Rockies. The elasmosaur is a large marine reptile dating back to the Cretaceous period; approximately 80 million years ago. Since this initial find, another elasmosaur was found in Comox Valley by Pat Trask in 2020. Both elasmosaurs are on display at the Courtenay and District Museum and Paleontology Centre.

Feb 15, 2023 media release from the New Democrat BC Government Caucus. Hyperlinks added within this post.

Please view the entire media release here.

Image/artwork courtesy of https://www.deviantart.com/nefarusyul

BC Provincial Fossil Voting Results

The provincial government has recently announced the results of the Fall 2018 voting for a provincial fossil.  Of the seven candidates, the Elasmosaur received the most votes at 48%. Legislation must first be passed before the Elasmosaur can officially be designated as the provincial fossil and a provincial symbol of British Columbia.  

The folks at the Courtenay and District Museum and Palaoentology Centre and Vancouver Island Paleontological Society are ecstatic.