(Photo Courtesy @jsharpie40/Twitter

However, the 7th grade science teacher recently found and reported the skull of what appeared to be a whale to paleontologists. Byhower discovered the fossil amongst boulders on the campus of the Chadwick School.

While he knew there were boulders on his campus containing skeletons, it wasn’t until he called paleontologist Howell Thomas that Byhower realized a new species could be found.

The skull of the whale is embedded in a boulder, like many found on the campus grounds. Thomas has identified the species as a sperm whale not previously documented by science for now, but further excavation will begin on Feb. 5.

Read more at Yahoo News and NBC LA.

Reach Executive Producer Tahsin Hyder here. Follow her on Twitter here.