Be a dinosaur fossil hunter for a day at the Currie Museum Bonebeds

The fossil bed, also nicknamed the River of Death, was so significant to the science community that Canada’s newest dinosaur museum was built nearby in the town of Wembley. The Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum opened in 2015, named after the lead paleontologist from the Royal Tyrell Museum who brought Lakusta’s discovery to the world.

Fast forward to today and more than 3,000 specimens have been excavated from the bonebeds near Grande Prairie with 37 unique individual pachyrhinosaurus identified. The museum has become a major centre for international research, education and community programming.

The distinct approach to education at the Philip J. Currie Museum’s is done through its innovative community engagement. This is where my experience would start. I was blown away as our group of visitors dove deep into the world of dinosaurs in a truly remarkable hands-on experience.

Being a Paleontologist For a Day, you might think would be a guided tour or a walk-and-listen activity. What Chris Dsouza, along with his son Jason and friend Drake, quickly found out as did I was that this would be so much more.

We literally felt like we were getting the Jurassic Park tour with Dr. Hammond. Only this time it wasn’t Dr. Hammond but rather paleontologist Derek Larson and researcher Jackson Sweder as our guides, mentors and excavation colleagues. We were actually going to dig fossils out of the bonebed discovered in 1974.

Our day started with a tour of the fossil lab and museum. A full-size replica skeleton of the Pachyrhinosaurus gave us a better understanding of what we would soon be digging. Jason and Drake were enthralled as Larson showed them hundreds of specimens in the fossil room. Chris and I were equally excited because, well, dinosaurs captivate people of all ages.

Our dino crew was then handed the tools of the trade to become fossil hunters like Al Lakusta over 40 years ago. All loaded up, we headed down to the Pipestone Creek, a 20-minute drive away from Grande Prairie and then a short hike in along the creek banks.

On site, the first order of business was to lift the protective tarp. Once removed it revealed the open excavation site and we got our first glimpse of the large intact fossils. Jason’s eyes lit up and I could see he couldn’t wait to get hands-on and dirty with fossils. His passion in life is dinosaurs, which was obvious as he told us stories of the many dinosaur trips he's taken.

Larson and Sweder were amazing as guides, providing the skills needed to excavate the fossils. “Sweep up the stones,” “Don’t take off too much” and “Gently scrap here,” were repeated often. We were also able to ask any questions of our dinosaur experts.

Chris really got into his work excavating the spot Larson assigned to him. He had a tough task ahead of him as fossils were literally stacked upon one another. While hard at work Chris asked Larson about the site. “The bonebed is over 100 metres long by 30 metres wide, extending deep into the riverbank,” said Larson. “We think maybe the dinosaurs all drowned in a flood and piled up along the bank, giving the site the nickname River of Death.”

Time truly does flash by when you are having fun. Alongside our tools, we were provided a full lunch onsite made at the museum’s own restaurant, the Café on 43. Lunch didn’t take long because we were too eager to get back digging.