These are fossil Dendraster ashleyi or Dendraster gibbsii Sand Dollars from the
Purisima formation Here. They are embedded in their original tomb along with
ghost shrimp burrows on the beach. These are about 5 million years old and I'm about
to extract them. Alright, here they are after I extracted them from their watery, sandy
tomb, they've been released to go back and be free again. Back to the lab to be
prepared to go to the museum. Here we go. This is back at our labs preparing the
sand dollars for their trip to the museum. Using glues (adhesives) and consolidants
(which are preservatives). First we remove the sand from the sand dollars. And the
sand has entombed them, like I said, for the last 5 million years. And once that sand is
completely removed and brushed off, we'll apply a protective coating of consolidant
to harden the sand dollars which we're doing here. Thanks for watching and enjoy
these beauties. It was a three dollar morning.
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