Treasure trove of marine fossils found under San Pedro high school

A construction project at San Pedro High School has revealed a treasure trove of marine fossils from L.A.’s prehistoric past.

The most ancient fossils in the collection are thought to be as many as 9 million years old and date to a time when the Palos Verdes Peninsula was covered by ocean.

Scientists are still identifying new species in the tons of material excavated from the site, but have already unearthed pieces of a saber-toothed salmon, sea turtles, whales, dolphins, clams, birds and teeth from the largest shark to ever live.

“It's the entire ecosystem from an age that's gone,” said Wayne Bischoff, who helped oversee the excavation. “We have all this evidence to help future researchers put together what an entire ecology looked like nine million years ago. That's really rare.”

‘A once-in-a-century opportunity’

San Pedro High School opened in 1903 and debuted the Leland Street campus in 1937. The district began a $260 million, bond-funded construction and renovation project in 2021.

A vertebrae fossil of extinct dolphin species.

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Wayne Bischoff, Envicom Corporation

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Courtesy Los Angeles Unified School District

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The jaw bone of an extinct saber-tooth salmon which had fangs that extended from its mouth.

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Wayne Bischoff, Envicom Corporation

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Courtesy Los Angeles Unified School District

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The rib bone from an extinct dolphin species.

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Wayne Bischoff, Envicom Corporation

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Courtesy Los Angeles Unified School District

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The Palos Verdes Peninsula has a rich paleontological history. LAUSD hired Envicom Corporation, where Bischoff oversees cultural resources, to monitor the site for any potential fossil finds.

The first find — a layer of 120,000-year-old shells — emerged from beneath the school’s central courtyard in June 2022, and the fossil discoveries continued through July 2024.

L.A. County Museum of Natural History paleontologist Austin Hendy found out about the dig from a colleague and rushed to the site the next morning.

“This is a once-in-a-century opportunity,” Hendy said. “It's the only site in California that looks like this.”

Though L.A. is home to the famous La Brea Tar Pits, much of the region's fossil record is buried beneath concrete.

The second largest discovery was an 8.7 million year-old densely layered bonebed with millions of fish and marine mammal remains.

Multiple tons of material were ultimately excavated from the site — “We collected more than we needed, because you only get one shot to do this,” Hendy said.

These limestone rocks excavated from San Pedro High School were later identified to be 8.7 million-years-old, placing them in the Late Miocene period.

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Wayne Bischoff, Envicom Corporation

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Courtesy Los Angeles Unified School District

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Fossilized shark and dolphin poop, known as coprolites, contain small fish bones.

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Wayne Bischoff, Envicom Corporation

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Courtesy Los Angeles Unified School District

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The majority of the fossils were relocated to CSU Channel Islands and the L.A. County Museum of Natural History. Future research could paint a more complete picture of the region’s history.

“We've moved away from just describing what we find, identifying new species, and making lists of things,” Hendy said. “To really trying to understand how ecosystems function, how they've changed through time.”

Hands-on experience with San Pedro’s prehistoric past

A few of the fossils will be displayed at San Pedro High School so students can learn more about the history under their feet.

“The fact that it's here, and that we get to learn more about it, and it's gonna spur more discovery?” said senior Taya Olson. “It's just something that I'm really, really excited about.”

San Pedro senior Milad Esfahani worked with Hendy to help catalog this prehistoric ecosystem as an intern with the museum this summer. The marine science magnet student remembered holding a 125,000-year-old shell for the first time.

Many of the fossils were discovered beneath the area where students now eat lunch at San Pedro High School's main campus.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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"Hands on stuff is a lot more of an educator than a textbook," said San Pedro senior Milad Esfahani, right, of his internship experience at the L.A. County Museum of Natural History. Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology Austin Hendy, left, said Esfahani's work cataloging fossils helped make the collection accessible to researchers around the world.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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“It was like a lot of shock, but eventually I was like, wow, this is, you know, super cool,” Esfahani said.

Though tedious at times, Esfahani’s work meticulously examining the tiniest details of each fossil, sometimes with a microscope, helps make the fossils accessible to researchers from around the world.

“Hands-on stuff is a lot more of an educator than a textbook,” said Esfahani, who plans to study marine paleontology after he graduates.

Other LAUSD students have had an opportunity to interact with the fossils on field trips to the Natural History Museum.

“My goal in the long run is to see that this becomes a teaching opportunity,” Hendy said.