The Bearsden Shark

I reckon this blip is pretty unique. It is a reproduction of the affectionately named 'Bearsden Shark' - a 330 million year old fossil discovered just three decades ago near the Manse Burn, only a few hundred yards from where I live*. Stan Wood, then an amateur fossil collector, realised he was on to something big when he came upon the skeleton, still intact from nose to tail, preserved in a muddy swamp. Even the partially digested remains of its last meal were inside the one-metre long fossil. It brings home how the world changes in geological time (measured in millions of years) and that we are living through just a tiny fraction of the Earth's existence. So it's very disturbing to read in the news that almost 100 million sharks are being killed each year (with many just being caught for their fins and thrown back into the sea to die). Fishing rates are outstripping the ability of populations to recover. When you consider how many millions of years this species has survived, it is quite shocking that humans are threatening to eliminate them in such a short space of time.

I remember meeting Stan to interview and photograph him for the local paper. This fossil discovery changed his life as he realised that he had an extra special skill. He took the decision to give up his job and go to university. He got his degree in paleontology and became a world-renowned fossil collector in midlife, supplying museums and researchers with specimens from many countries.

The little reproduction is encased in a rectangular block of perspex. It came with a leaflet that fits neatly under the base with a picture of the fish swimming with other creatures in a lagoon. I angled the shot to pick up a double image and include the picture images reflected in the sides of the perspex. I did a little saturation and colour manipulation, and added a mild textured craquelure filter.

*A note for any paleontologists out there - in 2001 it was revealed as a completely new species of fish and named akmonistion zangerli. It is different from all other previously discovered animals, whether fossilised or living.