We Just Found Footprints of an Extinct Giant Moa!

[@MamlamboFossils]

This is an amazing find!! Well done Julian, Daniel and everyone else involved!

[@OutThereLearning]

@@MamlamboFossils thanks Morne!

[@bluewok]

No plans to retrieve and preserve the footprints?

[@OutThereLearning]

If possible and still worthwhile, will be attempted, cheers

[@OutThereLearning]

The main block that you see in this video has been collected and is now on safe keeping 😊

[@sixthsenseamelia4695]

​@@OutThereLearning😊

[@flamencoprof]

Barring earthquakes, it's not often you get notified of "breaking news" from a geology channel! 🙂

[@OutThereLearning]

@@flamencoprof true!

[@tumekeehoa3121]

Geologic time includes now 😀

[@reuireuiop0]

Or... a Jökulhlaup will also cause breaking news _literally_ as it's the Nordic word for an ice dam breaking up, causing the lake behind to run down the valley and "rearrange" the sediments But I'll have fossil footprints any day instead !

[@marklong930]

Absolutely incredible! I love all the work you do on this channel, but of all the videos, this might be my favourite as we get to be there soon after you discovered the footprints. 👍

[@KatyGosling]

Superb! What an incredible find! Thanks for sharing your latest discovery.

[@OutThereLearning]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Bettynz]

That’s incredible!!! What a find.

[@GaiusSonofGermanicus]

Cool discovery. I think the most recent previous discovery was the very well preserved ones from a stream bed in the Maniototo area of the South Island, and which were recovered by the Otago Museum. Lots of luck with the efforts to recover and preserve these. It's going to be really technically challenging, but well worth the effort. Can you post updates about progress if possible? Thanks.

[@Shaun.Stephens]

Thanks for sharing this. I'm so pleased that you found these footprints, well done!

[@OutThereLearning]

Many thanks!

[@barbarabyers2721]

Really enjoyed learning about your wonderful find.

[@shortaybrown]

I want to see a vid on how you conserve and preserve the stones that contain those footprints.

[@luzr6613]

You're more than entitled to your obvious excitement - lovely stuff. Thanks for sharing!

[@brucetaylor2887]

These are amazing if anyone is running about the north island and would like to see our collection of Moa bones (in stone fully fossilised) drop into Kai Iwi Beach Holiday Park. We are big fossil lovers in touch with many local collectors. We have accommodation etc or just drop in.

[@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer]

Nice find. 👍 Now find some moa. 😅

[@QuiltedZero12]

Wow, congratulations on the find. So exciting, thanks for sharing.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for watching!

[@Chris.Davies]

Going at night time, and using a flashlight held on and parallel to the surface is the best way to find such tracks, especially if they are eroded.

[@OutThereLearning]

@@Chris.Davies great advice, thanks!

[@Pete-z6e]

That’s what Panelbeaters do, raking light.

[@hindesite]

@@Pete-z6e yeah, we'll have that rock back to smooth in no time!

[@helendrysdale6339]

Fascinating. Can you put the blocks in a museum or something to preserve them

[@OutThereLearning]

Being looked into, but they may be too degraded by the recent weather to be worthwhile

[@helendrysdale6339]

@@OutThereLearning that’s fair enough but what a great opportunity it viable. Well done on the find in any event 👏

[@yt.personal.identification]

Congratulations on your find ... and thankyou.

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers!

[@hindesite]

Breaking 1 million year old news! What a great find, thanks so much for sharing.

[@OutThereLearning]

Our pleasure!

[@fransmars1645]

Future archeologists: "Aah, we found some more plastic. Must have served some ritualistic purpose."

[@barthanson3043]

There was a time when mankind worshiped it to the extent that they would collect certain types to make more things out of. Eventually everything got brittle, and the great glass-wood wars began.

[@earlysda]

And that plastic was obviously from millions of years ago! Or maybe they will have outgrown our current fascination with the god of aeons of time by then.

[@pheebsbee1280]

😅👏

[@theobserver2309]

Very well done indeed. Congratulations!

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you!

[@stuartcarter3649]

Wow, Very good find and great commentary ! 👍🇦🇺🇳🇿👍

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you!

[@6point5by55]

Good find guys.

[@ksully6551]

Congrats, that's amazing!

[@bush600r2]

Nice find. My Dad has a Moa bone he found in their old lime works back in around the 60's. Lots of old fossils found in there.

[@OutThereLearning]

Great!

[@christinedaly2694]

Amazing hope you can keep it safe

[@julescaru8591]

Gosh , that’s awesome!

[@sixthsenseamelia4695]

BREAKING NEWS! NEVER SEEN BEFORE MOA FOOTPRINTS! 😮 OMGOSH OMGOSH OMGOSH! 😮 They'll be gone within days....😭 I'm too far away to go and see them before they erode....😭

[@JZsBFF]

Nothing's forever. Not sure that's a bad thing.

[@riverAmazonNZ]

Can you make a cast of them before they disappear?

[@OutThereLearning]

They have been scanned in 3D, and other methods of preserving them are being looked into if they survive the present bad weather

[@nikiTricoteuse]

I find footprints particularly fascinating. It's incredible to me that something in sand can somehow survive for a million years. I would love you to explain why they'll just be left to weather away though. Surely if they're so rare they're worth preserving.

[@yiannisdinou8679]

1 million years ago ? They were around not long ago at all.

[@BeachcomberNZ]

Moa were still around in large numbers when Man first arrived in New Zealand about 700 years ago. They were hunted to extinction by about 500 years ago.

[@CarlCerecke]

Really interesting. I'd be interested in understanding how you measure the age of the footprints.

[@BruceHayward1]

We correlate the sandstone rocks the footprints occur in with a sequence nearby that includes a layer of rhyolitic ash erupted from the centre of the North Island. This layer is well known from around NZ's North Island and can be identified by its chemistry to the Potaka Tephra which has been dated elsewhere by several methods at close to 1 million years old.

[@gorillapermacuture]

When a silt mud cap forms in a beach indent (usually just in front of permanent land) and the sun bakes it tacky then a solid foot print can hold its shape allowing for sand to move over it either by wind or surf. I would wonder if there is a fresh water outlet near by or intermittent flow.

[@BruceHayward1]

You are correct, but there is no mud here - they are preserved in sand and buried by sand. Only wet sand will capture crisp prints and then dry sand can be blown into and over them to capture them.

[@gorillapermacuture]

@@BruceHayward1 Is there heavy surf nearby. My next best guess would be when the salt spray can build up on the sun exposed sand and become a crust. Wet sand could make a big impression. I thought perhaps that any organic matter would have vanished long ago. Thanks for the response!

[@BruceHayward1]

@@gorillapermacuture Good observations. My experience is that the salt crust may capture the outline of a foot but the dry sand underneath will not capture the underneath impression crisply. In this case we can even see where toe nails dug deeper into the sand and I suspect the sand was damp throughout but not sloppy. We can never be 100% certain of course.

[@gorillapermacuture]

@@BruceHayward1 So cool! Keep on searching my friend!

[@Tiimeh]

Looks like the moa of the last several thousand years..

[@dougabbott8261]

Are plaster casts going to be done ?

[@OutThereLearning]

A lot will depend on how they have survived the recent bad weather, cheers

[@DarkmoonAngler]

Visiting the area a few times each year and speaking with a number of local users, I'd advise not to cut off public access. Makes people angry and could lead to less finds being reported or worse. Better to acknowledge others who find them in a positive way that will encourage others to keep an eye out and be respectful of such discoveries.

[@Sugar3Glider]

Nice find!

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks!

[@lesdrinkwater490]

Superb find.

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers!

[@kkuuuuaa]

Can they be preserved??

[@OutThereLearning]

Being looked into. Uncertain though.

Well done. Fortune favours the prepared and the observant.

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers!

[@anthonyclayden7717]

Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers!

[@2nostromo]

Bravo! Well done

[@OutThereLearning]

@@2nostromo thank you!

[@chrissscottt]

Congratulations!

[@simontay4851]

What is a moa? Never heard of one of those.

[@OutThereLearning]

@@simontay4851 An extinct giant flightless bird that used to live in New Zealand

[@gaius_enceladus]

An extinct bird of New Zealand. Looked a lot like an emu.

[@pheebsbee1280]

Any chance we can bring the moa back?

[@teeanahera8949]

If you had viable DNA and a suitable host bird BUT finding a suitable bird is not possible as the Moa’s lineage is no longer I think. Different for mammoths as they still have existing close relatives.

[@megansaddington5109]

That is so cool! 🦕🦖

[@FranktheTank-bk8me]

Great find

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers!

[@kathrynflannery2889]

What a lucky find!

[@Sammzz2011]

An Incredible Find! I can Imagine Theres Alot More!! Just needa Look in the Right Places 😃

[@michaelbiggs7129]

I hope they conserve the blocks

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your comment. The best one has now been retrieved!

[@howdydoodey3872]

I suppose you could find adjacent slabs with matching sediment lines and take them home for later water blasting? DoC permit needed. Roaring surf loaded with sand and stones isn't the ideal environment for hardened-'mud' moa footprints.

[@BruceHayward1]

Good idea but the sandstone is too soft for water blasting to succeed. Naturally it has broken open along the bedding plane that the footprints were made in possibly due to a change in windblown sand size or type that miraculously captured these footprints but not those of many thousands of giant birds that would also have wandered the beach at the time when this beach was in existence (a few thousand years at most). There are no stones or mud, just sand was accumulating on this beach which appears to have formed just on the inside of the entrance to the more sheltered ancient Kaipara Harbour. There would have been ten Kaipara Harbours in the last 1 million years, as it would have been a giant forested valley system for 90% of that time when sea level was lower than present (colder times in the Ice Ages).

[@MeppyMan]

Damn I love science! Thanks for sharing this.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your appreciation!

[@MeppyMan]

@@OutThereLearning when I was at school I didn’t really have much interest in things like geology and biology. Was more physics and maths. Now I’m older I’m realising how much I missed out on. Keep up the good work.

[@mrlee9213]

Where is this at? I think I know

[@OutThereLearning]

Kaipara South Head

[@Luubelaar]

Very cool!!

[@loganstrong9874]

Isn't this now the third only seen Moa foot prints ? One set were a giant Moa from the Pliocene found in river deposits (saved and preserved ) and other was from sand deposits from the Holocene from up north (not sure if thou's were saved ?

[@gailhowes9398]

Is this from a large bird?

[@OutThereLearning]

@@gailhowes9398 yes, giant flightless bird, now extinct

[@jbh1983]

Amazing!!!

[@barron204]

Love this.

[@janefrancesanderson9092]

Exciting day, goodness (small moa?)

[@OutThereLearning]

@@janefrancesanderson9092 medium sized probs

[@ianh2674]

Interesting, why not preserve them in some way?

[@OutThereLearning]

Being looked into, but uncertain at this point.

[@ianh2674]

@@OutThereLearning hopefully you folks will find a way to

[@GoldiefromMahia]

So some bloody moa ran across one of the fairy people's concrete jobs.

[@kennymilsom]

I have a moa in my shed. I feed it grass. He's name is Briggs 😀

[@OutThereLearning]

😁

[@teeanahera8949]

& Stratton

[@RaglansElectricBaboon]

Cool as!

[@grose2272]

Musium worthy specimen ❤

[@russellladmore4939]

How do you know it's a Moa ?

[@flamencoprof]

They are the only known large flightless bird in New Zealand's history. "Moa" is a general term for a group of species. Look up Ratites.

[@russellladmore4939]

Thank you !

[@flamencoprof]

@@russellladmore4939 An old silly song: - "No moa, no moa In old Ao-tea-roa Can’t get ’em They’ve et ’em They’re gone and there ain’t no moa’.

[@JZsBFF]

What's a Moa?

[@OutThereLearning]

An extinct, giant, flightless bird of NZ

[@JZsBFF]

@@OutThereLearning 👍

[@earlysda]

0:12 He couldn't contain his excitement to proselytize for the god of aeons of time that all Evolutionists are required to believe in, any longer than 12 seconds. Bravo!

[@theunknownunknowns256]

Cool.

[@fredio54]

Get a forklift out there and get these somewhere dry to keep them forever!

[@OutThereLearning]

@@fredio54 working on it, if some logistics can be solved and they aren't too damaged by the weather

[@fredio54]

@@OutThereLearning how about some cheap gazebos and ground anchors and straps to stop it in place while you organise the solution? I would offer help but not quite sure how much help I could be and notbfree for about 2 weeks. Have 100 series landcruiser and rigging gear. Maybe ansled system if the route out is sand?

[@bobkoroua]

You need to tell someone.

[@complimentary_voucher]

Dope!!

[@granodiorite9032]

hell yeah

[@OutThereLearning]

:-)

[@matthewtauti8803]

That my dad bro😂😂😂

[@kotukuwhakapiko467]

I live in kohanga moa. Inglewood. Never seen a moa bone in my life Thinking conspiracy

[@maureenmcmonagle3321]

You might be on the moon thinking that this moa footprint is millions of years old.... dont be misled.... Its probably only 300 years old.

[@CaptainKuki]

Cool

[@jbellbird9050]

Very exciting!

[@LHNA130]

So the moa where around circa 1000000 years and the maori killed them all off within say 3-400 years and they say there guardians of the land, yea right

[@Billy-mv9pn]

1000000 years😂. Why not 2000000 years😂

[@OutThereLearning]

Because the rock strata correlate with a widespread volcanic deposit that has been well dated at around 1 million years. Cheers 🙂

[@Billy-mv9pn]

@@OutThereLearning crack up😂

[@theoriginaltoadnz]

Why isn't this shown on mainstream media too, I guess they're too busy talking about Meghan and Hazza

[@OutThereLearning]

@@theoriginaltoadnz www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522632/extremely-rare-moa-footprints-discovered-near-auckland-s-south-head

[@uggali]

Whakamiharo te kite atu, ahakoa a ipurangi nei, i nga takahanga o te moa. Hakoakoa ana te ngakau i tau i kimi ai. He taonga tuku iho, he waihotanga no tuawhakarere. E rere e moa, i rewa ki runga ki te poho o Ranginui e tu iho nei. Haere ki te kainga o o koutou tupuna ki Te Ata i Toea.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you!

[@colonelferringeyes9714]

False alarm, they're just the footprints from my pet chooks we took up there during the holidays last week...

[@OutThereLearning]

@@colonelferringeyes9714 ah rats, we should have checked more carefully 😂

[@fredfurball]

Them big chooks

[@morganlefey]

This has made my day! Greetings from Cyprus 🧞‍♂️

[@OutThereLearning]

@@morganlefey great!