In the spring of 1989 the site was declared a protected heritage site. Then, in 1991, Courtenay Museum enlisted over forty volunteers, including a number of young people, to assist with the excavation of the rest of the elasmosaur. By the end of an arduous three-month quarry, the group had recovered over three-quarters of a complete elasmosaur.

Palaeontologist Rolf Ludvigsen oversaw the elasmosaur excavation, and has watched interest in his profession soar.

The exhibition OUR ANCIENT ISLAND was created to display the elasmosaur, along with specimens representative of a Cretaceous marine environment.

The original bones were sent to Alberta to be cleaned and cast by Prehistoric Animal Structures, and a model of the fourteen-netre-long giant was mounted in the museum's exhibit.

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