<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A 20 million-year-old whale fossil has been excavated from a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/victoria" rel="" target="" title="Victorian"><span>Victorian</span></a><span> beach after it was discovered by a family from </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/queensland" rel="" target="" title="Queensland"><span>Queensland</span></a><span> late last year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An army of Museums Victoria and Barwon Coast staff successfully dug the fossil up from the beach at Ocean Grove, on the Bellarine Peninsula, yesterday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Museums Victoria senior paleontologist Dr Erich Fitzgerald found the fossil buried under half a metre of sand after receiving a tip-off from the Davidson family.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/trapped-south-africa-miners-presumed-dead/f70fdad1-9ea0-4151-a13f-61dfb77458cd" target="_blank"><strong><span>Diamond mining company says trapped miners presumed dead and files for liquidation</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was actually about to go on leave for Christmas ... a member of the public sent an inquiry to the museum's public enquiry line, saying, 'we think we've found something on the beach at Ocean Grove'," Fitzgerald said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I went down on the 19th of December to scout about, have a bit of a look. Lo and behold, yep, they found something alright."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The family of five unearthed the fossil while on holiday from Cooktown in December.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/twentymillionyearold-whale-fossil-excavated-from-victorian-beach-after-familys-rare-find/1c010c06-47b4-43fc-b14f-69b62aefd46a" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I pretty much stumbled over it ... we spent some time trying to dig it up and look at it and took some photos," Kristina Davidson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There's the spine, there's rib bones, it's just kind of all there."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dozens of helpers raced against a rising tide today to dig away sand and chisel at the one-tonne sandstone block that cocooned the ancient vertebrae.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Heavy machinery was then brought in to move the giant fossil, which was imprinted on a one-tonne block of sandstone, from the beach.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>From there it was loaded onto a truck and driven back to Melbourne, where paleontologists will study it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/why-burntout-americans-think-aussies-dont-know-how-good-they-have-it/f67e0e52-0366-44f3-ac67-4b1c4afbf849" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Why burnt-out Americans think Aussies don't know how good they have it</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They say it's one of the biggest whale fossils ever found in Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Every fossil we find has its own unique significance ... it's rare to find a skeleton where there are many of the bones connected together," Fitzgerald said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There's one little tooth that we can see exposed on the side of this block, and that tooth suggests that this is from a really quite primitive group of toothed echo-locating whales."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The fossil could give paleontologists a rare look into a black spot in the history of the mammal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These fossils and the rocks that house them at Ocean Grove are from a time in Earth's history and the evolutionary story of whales, where we have very few fossils worldwide," Fitzgerald said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's a critical episode where the Earth's climate and oceans were changing really dramatically about 21, 23 million years ago.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This fossil from Ocean Grove doesn't just have local, state, national significance, it has the real chance to shed light on the global picture of whale evolution through what you might consider the missing years of whale history."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><strong><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>