A fossil hunter came across an exceptional find while they were looking for fossils on a remote beach in New Zealand.

The man got excited when he saw a bit of bone sticking out the side of a rock and took a closer look.

"I inspected it closely and to my surprise, I recognised some really large teeth in the rock as well. I've seen some photos of fossil whale teeth and these were a good match for them. The fossils from this area are between 11 and 14 million years old," he said.

To see what was inside the rock, it would have to be scanned by something more powerful than X-rays as they would not penetrate through such a dense object, so the man got in touch with ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) as they could use a neutron scanner to get a look inside the rock.

After obtaining an export permit from the New Zealand government, he then sent the fossil to ANSTO where it was scanned.

The results showed what he was hoping for -- huge teeth embedded in the rock.

The rock is now radioactive for a week or two -- the neutrons used are generated from a nuclear reactor -- so is being stored safely for a while, after which it will be sent back to the fossil hunter.

He will then use the images to prep the fossil (remove the rock) and donate it to a museum to be studied further.

He said: "The 3D model explanation of the neutron scanner was created by myself and I own all the assets used in the final render. I used Blender to generate the scene and scanned the fossil using a Revopoint POP2 3D scanner which I could then import."

"The footage from the neutron scanner shows the layers of the fossil. It's as if a tenth of a millimetre of rock is stripped away each time to show the bones and teeth inside the rock. There are still a number of rare whale teeth inside the rock that will be exposed slowly using a combination of air scribes and acid. You can see some of my other videos for examples."

The footage of the teeth in a jawbone at the end is an example of what the teeth will have looked like originally. Those teeth are from a modern sperm whale and are on display at the Auckland Museum.

I was out looking for fossils on a remote beach in New Zealand when I saw a bit of bone sticking out the side of a rock. I inspected it closed and to my surprise, I recognised some really large teeth in the rock as well. I've seen some photos of fossil whale teeth and these were a good match for them. The fossils from this area are between 11 and 14 million years old.

To see what was inside the rock, it would have to be scanned by something more powerful than X-rays as they would not penetrate through such a dense object. I got in touch with ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) as they could use a neutron scanner to get a CT image of it. After obtaining an export permit from the New Zealand government, I sent the fossil to ANSTO where it was scanned. It is now radioactive for a week or two and being stored safely after which it will be sent back to me. The neutrons are generated from a nuclear reactor.

I will use the images to prep the fossil (remove the rock) after which it will be donated to a museum to be studied further.

The 3D model explanation of the neutron scanner was created by myself and I own all the assets used in the final render. I used Blender to generate the scene and scanned the fossil using a Revopoint POP2 3D scanner which I could then import.

The footage from the neutron scanner shows the layers of the fossil. It's as if a tenth of a millimeter of rock is stripped away each time to show the bones and teeth inside the rock. There are still a number of rare, whale teeth inside the rock that will be exposed slowly using a combination of air scribes and acid (see some of my other videos for examples)

The footage of the teeth in a jawbone at the end is an example of what the teeth will have looked liked, the teeth used are from a modern sperm whale at the Auckland Museum.

The fossil was found on 13 Aug 2022 in Canterbury, New Zealand.
It was scanned on 27 Aug 2022 at the ANSTO facility in Australia.
It will be sent back to New Zealand as soon as it is no longer radioactive, roughly the middle of Sept 2022.

The music used is from bensound.com and requires attribution.