The 15th BC Paleontological Symposium will take place this August 22 to 26 at the Florence Filberg Centre in downtown Courtenay. The Vancouver Island Paleontological Society, a charter member of The British Columbia Paleontological Alliance, is hosting this year with the support of the Courtenay and District Museum.
Summer’s here! Don’t miss your chance to book your spot on a world famous fossil tour guided by our Natural History Curator, Pat Trask. Tours will run from now until the fall, with public tours for families and school programming available for classes and youth groups. These tour options are the perfect outing for all ages, newcomers and returning enthusiasts.
It’s official! At long last, what was known as the Puntledge River elasmosaur now has its own scientific name: Traskasaura sandrae, named in its scientific paper published on May 23, 2025 in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, by Dr. F. Robin O’Keefe.
The Courtenay and District Historical Society lost a supporter with the death of Mike Trask on May 15, 2025. Mike Trask’s name will be forever linked with the 1988 discovery of the Puntledge River elasmosaur. It was with this find that the full potential of fossil resources in the Comox Valley started to be revealed.
As the warmer weather approaches, don’t forget to book your spot on a world famous fossil tour guided by our Natural History Curator, Pat Trask.
Zoophycos is a trace fossil. Trace fossils are the tracks, trails, burrows or other markings left behind by organisms in the sediment. Zoophycos feeding traces consist of radiating arc-like grooves and ridges which are termed spreite. The spreite are arranged in broad overlapping tongues and fans around a central vertical shaft or burrow.
It's been 37 years since an elasmosaur was discovered in the Puntledge River. Today, there are over a dozen different genera and several species of elasmosaurs found worldwide, and the Comox Valley elasmosaur is now considered a completely new genus and species among them.
Check out Courtenay Museum Natural History Curator, Pat Trask, as he talks about the Comox Valley elasmosaur in a recent Instagram reel by the Government of BC. The museum would like to extend a huge thank you to Hayley Antonissen and her video production team for making this happen!
People around the world have found ammonite fossils in ancient marine deposits for thousands of years. Ammonites had a many-chambered shell and are believed to be relatives of the octopus and squids that live today. Through time there were at least 10,000 and, possibly, up to 20,000 different species.
The Courtenay Museum is excited to offer a new and educational tour of Dinosaurs of BC, a travelling exhibit from the Royal BC Museum. This program is perfect for school groups and will spark curiosity about the creatures that lived in ancient British Columbia’s land and sea.
