In Memoriam: Mike Trask

Mike Trask holding elasmosaur vertebrae, 1990. CDM 991.19.1.

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.

Mike worked closely with the museum in the following years by joining the Board of Trustees/Directors, acting as team leader for paleo excavations, hosting tours, and generally being an ambassador to media outlets. While all that time he was uncovering more fossils.

In spring of 1995 he penned a guest column for the museum newsletter that summed up the excitement and productivity of those days. You can read his column below.

Tremendous thanks are due to Mike for placing his fossil finds at the Courtenay and District Museum where they could act as a spark to discovery and knowledge for so many.

The Elasmo Story by Mike Trask

(Guest column from Spring 1995 newsletter)

“January 18, 1989: Curator Deborah Griffiths was celebrating her birthday when I arrived unannounced at the Courtenay Museum with a most unusual present: several vertebrae belonging to the Puntledge River elasmosaur.

Although we both knew it was something special, neither of us could foresee the events that would unfold in the next six years. Since that damp day in January our lives have been catapulted into a journey of discovery.

A fortunate link with paleontologist Rolf Ludvigsen the following month brought me out of the Dark Ages by providing much-needed guidance and knowledge.

This link too would grow beyond all expectations, and within a year’s time, Rolf and I completed a paleontologic survey of the Brown’s and Puntledge rivers. The fossils collected on that survey form the nucleus of what is now a quite extensive fossil collection at the museum.

An energetic group of volunteers quarried the Puntledge elasmosaur from the rock in 1991. Amateur paleontologists uncovered the remains of fossilized sea creatures such as mosasaurs and marine turtles, adding to our knowledge of the prehistoric sea. A study of the Trent River in 1994 produced 5,675 identifiable fossils.

Paleontological societies have formed across B.C., including a Vancouver Island society (VIPS), which evolved from the community support behind our local project.

The B.C. Paleontological Alliance, a mix of professional and amateur paleontologists, was established to promote communication and research-sharing across the province.

Meanwhile, the delicate job of carving the remaining rock from the bones of the elasmosaur has been carried out by Gilles Danis and his crew in Alberta. The prepared material now rests beneath a fifteen-meter-long mural depicting the Cretaceous seas.

Which brings us to today. The first-ever B.C. Symposium which puts amateurs on an equal platform with professionals, is the culmination of all these energies and endeavours.

Less than seven years ago I reached into the shale and removed the first elasmosaur bone. I knew it was a unique discovery, but had no hint of the journey that lay ahead.

And the best is yet to come….”