Fisherman reels in woolly mammoth tooth. Now he’s auctioning it to help Ukraine crisis
A fisherman and his crew set out to reel in some scallops when they found a prehistoric fossil from the last Ice Age — a “well-preserved” woolly mammoth tooth — off the coast of northern Massachusetts in December, National Fisherman reported.
Now, Capt. Asher Molyneaux of New England Fishmongers is auctioning the 12,000-year-old tooth, which is nearly a foot long, to help with the crisis in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the neighboring nation in eastern Europe, the group based in New Hampshire and Maine wrote March 6 on Facebook.
The highest bid for the fossil is currently $4,800 as of March 10, according to its eBay page, and the auction ends Sunday, March 13. There are 41 bids so far.
Fishmongers captain Tim Rider told Seacoastonline that a University of New Hampshire paleontologist verified the fossil.
The total proceeds will be donated to World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that’s set up at eight different locations along Ukraine’s border to serve meals to fleeing refugees.
“Additionally, they are supporting local restaurants preparing meals in eight Ukrainian cities including in Odessa, Lviv, and Kyiv,” according to the New England Fishmongers, which catches and sells fish.
About 2.3 million Ukrainian refugees have fled their homes as of March 9, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. They’ve escaped to nearby countries such as Poland, Romania and Hungary.
The woolly mammoth tooth getting auctioned is a molar that weighs nearly 7 pounds, its online description says. It’s been sitting in a tank of seawater since it was caught in December.
The now-extinct creature is related to elephants and had long tusks similar to them. Woolly mammoths existed during the Pleistocene age, which ranged from 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago, and are most related to the Asian elephant, according to the World History Encyclopedia.
“Fossils found off the coast of northern Massachusetts are probably from sediments that were laid down at the end of the last Ice Age, between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago,” the tooth’s description on eBay says. “The sea level was significantly lower at the time due to the rebound of the crust when the glaciers began melting back, releasing the land from beneath the weight of the ice.”
Once the tooth is sold to the highest bidder, it’ll be “carefully” packed with “plenty of bubble wrap” with shipping costs covered.
The auction of the woolly mammoth tooth comes as reports are emerging from Ukrainians about Russian troops shooting at civilians, the Associated Press reported.
President Joe Biden has said the invasion is an “assault on global peace” and called it Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war against the Ukrainian people.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Fisherman reels in woolly mammoth tooth. Now he’s auctioning it to help Ukraine crisis."
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