Next steps for Seattle mammoth tusk

UPDATED 3.20.14

The Seattle Mammoth had a Twitter account up and running within a day of its tusk being discovered, but when it comes to next steps for the tusk itself, the pace may be a bit more... well, glacial.

Step 1: Stabilize

"For every day you spend collecting something, you can spend weeks,
months or even years getting the preparation work done."
—Bruce Crowley, Burke Museum Paleontology Lab Manager

Diggin' the South Lake Union Mammoth

By Dave DeMar

On Tuesday, February 11, 2014, an employee of Transit Plumbing, Inc. discovered a Columbian mammoth tusk at a South Lake Union construction site in Seattle. I had heard about its discovery that day but hadn’t given it much thought beyond “you never know when or where fossil discoveries are going to turn up.”



The Columbian mammoth is Washington's state fossil and had tusks
up to 15 feet long. These mammoths ranged across North America
until the last glacial retreat about 11,000 years ago.
Image by Charles Knight, 1922, public domain.

The following Thursday around 8:30 a.m., I received a text message from Dr. Christian Sidor, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Burke Museum and University of Washington Associate Professor of Biology, asking if I’d like to help excavate the mammoth tusk. “Sure!” I immediately responded, thinking what an adventure it would be to dig up an ice age animal in the middle of a city.

Conservation Stories From Behind the Lens

Each of the 75 photographs featured in our International Conservation Photography Awards exhibit tells a unique and compelling story about a beautiful moment in nature. One that we, as viewers, individually interpret based on our life experiences and understanding of the natural world.

From photographs of tiny creatures to enormous environmental changes, I couldn't help but want to know more... What inspired the photographer to seek out this moment in nature? What is the message they want to convey with their work? How did they get that amazing shot?

I sat down with several of the award-winning photographers and asked if they would be willing to share their story. Here's what Seattle-based bird and wildlife photographer Paul Bannick, Victoria, British Columbia-based photographer TJ Watt, and South Africa-based photographer Cheryl-Samantha Owen each had to say:

Arctic Emissary


Cape Gannet Rescue


Last Stands


Posted by Cathy Britt, Digital Communications

What do YOU want to protect?
From the bird’s nest in your backyard to that spot on the hiking trail where you feel totally alone… from the tiny park down the block to a tree frog half a world away… what matters to you? Share your photo in our Conservation Candids Flickr group!

What do you want to protect? Conservation Candids

Nature photos are beautiful and inspiring. They also make us think twice about the world around us – and what we stand to lose if we don't protect the places that matter to us.

From the bird’s nest in your backyard to that spot on the hiking trail where you feel totally alone… from the tiny park down the block to a tree frog half a world away… what matters to you?

Conservation Candids
The 75 images in our International Conservation Photography (ICP) Awards exhibit recognize excellence in conservation photography, but we know the desire to capture beautiful moments in the natural world extends far beyond this exhibit (and our limited wall space!).

A little "Eye Spy," anyone?

Want to play a little "Eye Spy?" Test your nature knowledge with these sneak preview photos featured in the International Conservation Photography (ICP) Awards exhibit at the Burke Museum through November 25, 2012.

Eye spy a mellow mamma and her curious calf, who was very "friendly" with the photographer when he took their picture near an island in the South Pacific known for the same quality. Where are they?

Photo by Ryan Hellard (zoomed in for Eye Spy)

A homecoming for Sooke the orca

Puget Sound Southern Resident orcas swim off the shore
of San Juan Island in August 2011. (Photo: Cathy Britt)

The return of the J, K and L Pod Southern Resident orcas to their home waters near the San Juan Islands this week came on the heels of another homecoming of sorts. The Burke returned the skeletal remains of Sooke (also known as Victoria), a former member of the L pod, to her new home at the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor. 



When three-year-old Sooke (L-112) washed ashore near Long Beach, WA in early February,researchers examined her remains to try and determine how she died. Shortly after, the Whale Museum began cleaning her skeleton to make it a permanent part of the museum.

What Makes a Photograph "Award-Winning?"

This past weekend, a new exhibit opened at the Burke. The International Conservation Photography Awards showcases over 75 of the best conservation photographs from around the world. The ICP Awards was the brainchild of Seattle-based photographer Art Wolfe and since 1997, the biennial competition has been inviting photographers to submit their best work in a number of categories, including Wildlife, Nature at Risk, Community at Risk, and Documenting a Conservation Project. The competition is judged by four photography and design professionals, and the winners and honorable mentions from the 2010 competition will be on view at the Burke through Labor Day Weekend.

On opening day this past Saturday, I walked through the exhibit with ICP Awards juror Cynthia Hall (a senior designer at Girvin) with our Flip camera and asked her to talk about the question “what makes a photograph award winning?” She offered some great insight about the factors the judging panel considered when making their final selections:



Each of the photographs in this exhibit has a unique story to tell about conservation and appreciation for the natural world. Come to the Burke this summer and check it out!

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

Lucy Talks, And So Do Conservators...

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

Dr. Patricia Kramer, a University of Washington anthropologist, speaks at the Pacific Science Center tonight in the penultimate lecture of the "Lucy Talks" lecture series. Dr. Kramer will discuss how anthropologists decipher clues from fossils to discover how and why our earliest hominid ancestors walked upright.

Last month, when Drs. Vicki Cassman and Nancy Odegaard, both conservators, came to Seattle to present at the Lucy Talks series, I had the pleasure of sitting down with them for an interview about the role of conservators and the challenges they faced as they advised the Ethiopian government on the preservation and shipping of Lucy’s bones. Watch the video here: