 | Friends of the Environment Abaco, Bahamas | | ||||
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Crocodile, Bird and Tortoise Fossils Found In Abaco | ||||
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The Sawmill Sink, a blue hole in south central Abaco, formally an old lumbering camp in the early 20th century, is the site where the skeletal remains of tortoises and crocodiles have been found proving that these animals once inhabited this area. This blue hole which is 55 feet across and 110 feet deep is one of the most exciting projects of the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC). The blue hole which was once a dry cave some 10,000 years ago, has filled with water when the sea levels rose, making it an aquatic blue hole. To date, the skeletal remains of 10 tortoises and 40 crocodiles along with many other birds, reptiles and mammals have been found. These skeletal remains have been brought up out of the blue hole and preserved for further testing. | ||||||||||
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The first skeleton was discovered by accident in April of 2005 and diving since has produced many species of animals, all in excellent condition. Carbon dating testing will take place in the United States to ascertain the age of the bones as well as DNA testing to verify the species. | ||
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The site known as the Sawmill Sink provided fresh water for the camp and water for the steam locomotive that hauled the lumber to the dock for shipping to Nassau, Cuba and the United States. It was always where much debris was dumped. There are many indications of a past settlement- foundations, stone paths and locomotive parts. | ||||||||
The Sawmill Sink is 110 feet deep and it has a rock cone in the middle covered with organic debris. The first 30 feet is fresh water, salt water and a layer of hypo-sulfide.. Divers must go below this to access the cone. | ||||||||
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Thirteen years ago, two crocodile skeletons were discovered in an underwater cave but were not preserved adequately and subsequently decentergated. They were identified as Cuban crocodiles, not the crocodiles found in Florida. The current crocodile fossils were discovered by accident in the Sawmill Sink last year. | ||
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The bones in the Saw mill Sink are very well preserved, probably due to the lack of oxygen in the water at the lower part of the hole. Exploration of the Sawmill Sink has only just begun and the fossils that have been recovered come from a very small area, about four square meters in a blue hole with a circumference of 500 feet. | ||||
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By January 2006, divers had recovered six tortoise shells, bones of at least 8 crocodiles including an entire skull complete with lower jaw and teeth, an owl, a very large extinct raptorial bird, passerine birds, snake vertebra and lizard jaws. They have retrieved seeds from one of the female tortoises which had presumably been it's last meal and have retrieved white organic material which turned out to be crocodile excrement. The tortoise skeletons are almost complete with skull, vertebra and all the small leg bones. They have gotten female, male and juvenile tortoise shells. There are bones that they expected to find but have not: these include bats, iguanas and Hutias. | ||||||||
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Some of these animals are still found in our environment but many are extinct or are found only in other countries today. | ||||||||
Dr. Keith Tinker, Director of the ANTIQUITIES, MONUMENTS AND MUSEUMS CORPORATION (AMMC), the government corporation which has responsibilities for museums, historic sites and archaeological research in The Bahamas has signed a groundbreaking memorandum of understanding and sublease with FRIENDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT. FRIENDS now partners with AMMC in their goals and objectives in Abaco; Nancy Albury is the branch manager of AMMC is the Project Coordinator for the Sawmill Sink Fossil Project based within the Friends office. Mrs. Albury is working with palenotologists from the Florida Museum of Natural History to further this project. | ||||||||
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In October, 2005, the first scientific poster was presented by Richard Franz, Gary Morgan and Nancy Albury at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Mesa, Arizona. Carbon dates and DNA studies are unknown at this time. Ongoing research will be disseminated as available. | ||
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