Another fossil whale bites the dust?

Fossils are fragile, rare things; despite their abundance in some areas, we're pretty fortunate to have the remains of animals that lived and died in the distant past. One of the problems in modern paleontology (and in nearly any scientific discipline that requires fieldwork), though, is the bureaucratic red tape that can slow and even halt excavations of important finds. According to the Los Angeles Times, such is the problem with a Miocene baleen whale skull discovered by amateur paleontologist Daryll Hansen in Orange County, CA. The problem is that the remains (primarily what appears to be a complete skull) are in an area controlled by the Orange County flood control division, so whatever excavations take place have to be cleared by the division and not destroy the creek bed where the fossils are situated. While the flood control division supports excavating the skull, they have yet to even go out and make an assessment on the site as various permits and insurance for excavations haven't yet been obtained. While everything plods along the skull could be damaged or destroyed by natural processes or by people who happen across the skull (or even walk over it, not noticing that it's there), and even though paleontologists are trying to keep the skull intact it must be difficult to have to wait for all the administrative issues to be ironed out.