14 DAY TRIAL // Edgar Nernberg of Alberta, Canada, is a devoted creationist. He is on the board of directors for Big Valley's Creation Science Museum and he is convinced the Earth sprung into being but 6,000 years ago.
Hence the awkwardness when, while working on digging a basement for a house in Evanston, Galgary, he came across the fossilized remains of fish that lived about 60 million years back.
Edgar Nernberg immediately recognized the fossils for what they were
The man says he moved to Calgary about 12 years ago. He's been working for a local excavation company for quite a while now and admits he's no stranger to finding evidence of creatures that populated the region eons ago.
Since starting work at the excavation company, Edgar Nernberg has come face to face with all sorts of impressions left by clams, snails and even leaves in local sandstones.
The moment he set eyes on the fossilized fish, he realized they were no ordinary find and contacted paleontologists at the University of Calgary. Having examined them, the researchers confirmed them to be ancient remains.
“When the five fish fossils presented themselves to me in the excavator bucket, the first thing I said was you’re coming home with me, the second thing was I better call a paleontologist,” said Edgar Nernberg.
The 60-million-year-old fish fossils are astonishingly well preserved. Scientists say they are of special importance to our planet's history because they belong to some of the earliest bony fish.
“Any such discoveries are significant as they shed light on the nature and diversity of animals that lived not long after the extinction of the dinosaurs,” explained paleontologist Darla Zelenitsky.
Make no mistake, Edgar Nernberg is still a convinced creationist
Despite having discovered these 60-million-year-old fish fossil specimens in the northwest community of Evanston in Calgary, Canada, Edgar Nernberg hasn't changed his mind about Earth being merely 6,000 years old.
To him, fossil evidence is open to interpretation. Plainly put, both his colleagues at the Creation Science Museum in Big Valley and proper paleontologists can choose to read in fossilized remains whatever suits them best.
“We all have the same evidence, and it's just a matter of how you interpret it,” the man told the press in an interview. Needless to say, the scientific community would beg to differ.
