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On the last two trips my son and I have made down to one of our favorite spots near Saint Leonard, MD we found these specimens. I've some guesses about what they are but would appreciate some corroboration. All were found along the shore of the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland in the Choptank formation.
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Trying to remember a site - La Plata MD beach on the Chesapeake?
ebfossilhound posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hi all - I’m trying to remember a site I went to a long time ago. It was with a Delaware Rock & Mineral group to a spot that I think was called La Plata? La Plata is a town in Maryland but I’m not sure of the specific site nearby. I think it was a pebbly beach-like site on the Chesapeake that had a lot of ray mouth plate fossils. Does anyone know where this might be? -
Hey guys, I'm planning a trip to the Chesapeake and Calvert cliffs area for a few weeks from now and I was wondering i any more experienced hunters have some biases towards which areas and access locations they like best. I've previously been to the Matoaka Cabins and Calvert Cliffs State Park, both of which yielded similar finds with nothing big, although I found the access to the cliff bases at Matoaka more favorable. I'd also love to find a canoe rental in the area to boat about and stop at exposed beach areas to hunt before heading further along the stretch, although general advice and spot tips from people with more experience than I would be greatly appreciated.
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Calvert County, MD beaches, Matoaka Lodges, Miocene diversity, September 2020
Chris Carpenter posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Here is a brief report from one of our latest forays into Calvert County, MD. The well-known stretch of shoreline along the western Chesapeake Bay is loaded with Miocene fossils, with the Calvert, St. Mary's, and Choptank formations progressively exposed along a ~24 mile stretch of beach and cliffs. We found an Airbnb in Lusby, MD which was not too far from Matoaka Lodges, which seemed the best bet since the nearly 2 mile walk to the beaches at Calvert Cliffs State Park is impractical for our family at this time. Covid-19 and Maryland's onerous private land regulations can make it tough if not impossible to access some of the other municipal beaches along the coast. For example, Brownies Beach, Dares Beach, Cove Point, and Flag Pond are all restricted in some way to town or county residents only. Matoaka Lodges however will grant day-pass access for a small fee, and the beach is from my experience very diverse and productive in its fossils. We spent a total of 5 hours there, employing an 1/8" sieve and also simply walking the surf line. The largest tooth pictured here actually washed up at my feet as I was surreptitiously bending over at the same time. Most of the rest were found with the sieve. Most of these are shark or sting ray teeth and a few turtle shells plus some of the smaller items I could not identify. A local told me that porpoise teeth can be found there also. This lot comprises the smallest fossils found; in addition to these (mostly) teeth and shell fragments were found a large and diverse sample of vertebrate fragments, corals, miscellaneous other fossils (snails, mollusks, etc.) which I will post in the follow-up report to this one. Having spent some time at some of the other sites along Calvert Cliffs this summer, I would say based on the diversity, number of fossils, and time spent collecting, that Matoaka is definitely worth the return trip.
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Hi all - I am new to the group so please forgive me if I miss any information. I found this piece in question on a sandbar right off of Wallops Island, Virginia. I believe it is some kind of tooth or claw/talon. Unfortunately I am on vacation and left the piece at home. But I estimate it to be around 6 inches long (0.15 meters) and about 2 inches wide (0.05 meters). It has a little weight to it but still light. This was the best picture I had that shows the full piece and the root top.
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We found this hollow bone-like fossil in the surf of the Chesapeake bay, Haven Beach, Mathews VA. It appears to have a cut or tooth mark. Can't find anything else that looks like it. Could it have been broken or sawed?
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New member. Hi. Found these chunks of probable whale bone on a sod bank along the Chesapeake in Kilmarnock Va. The one on the right is a rib base. The other two might be shoulder or pelvic girdle bones.
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I finally was able to take the family down for a short trip to Maryland this past weekend in hopes of finding some shark teeth. Despite the heavy crowds everywhere we went we able to have a fun filled weekend. We started off Saturday morning and were the first on the beach at Flag Ponds Nature Park. The tide was coming in but we still managed to pick up a few teeth. Our best find there was a nice mako, almost and inch. We stayed there until lunch, took a break and went off to Matoaka cottages for the afternoon/evening. We didn’t find nearly as many teeth there but were able to find a few nice hemi’s, the biggest being right around the 1 inch mark. Sunday morning we got up and made made our way over to Purse Park. We got there around 11am and were met with a full parking lot. I was a little discouraged knowing it would be crowded but we went ahead to the beach. Wow was I glad we did! In about 3 hours of searching time we managed to scoop up around 200 teeth! Most of the teeth were very small but we did find a few nicer ones there as well. Overall I’d consider the weekend a complete success! This was our first trip with fossil hunting as the specific focus. Despite the heavy crowds everywhere we went, we still managed to bring home over 200 teeth, at least 50 ray plates, and numerous other miscellaneous fossils. I can’t wait to go back!
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This fragment was found at Bayfront Park, where the Calvert Formation of the Calvert Cliffs is exposed. It is only about 1/2 inch in length. It is almost perfectly flat on the top, with one line running down the middle and several smaller scratchlike lines running approximately perpendicular in either direction. The middle line seems to be a wall-like structure that goes through the entire cross section as it is visible on both sides. The bottom of the object has many tiny pores, that when viewed from the side appear to be the tops of tube-like structures. I am really stumped on this one. It looks somewhat like a broken section of a ray mouthpiece, but I’ve found hundreds of those and this is unlike any of them. I’m wondering if it may not even be a fossil because of the near perfect flatness of the top side. It definitely doesn’t match anything on the resources about Calvert Cliff fossils on the internet. If anyone has an idea about this one, I’d love to hear it. Because as of right now, I’m pretty clueless. Thanks!
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From the album: Calvert Cliffs
Molds from the Choptank Formation. Member unknown. Virginia Miocene -
Found at Brownies Beach, on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Never seen anything like this. What is it?! The 30+ nodules are very hard material like enamel, and the base is bone material. Can someone please help identify this fossil?
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Wow! Have I been busy with the fossil hunting recently. I have been blessed with the opportunity to go hunting every weekend for the last few weeks, sometimes even twice. and I have been having good results and have learned a lot from you guys on TFF so thankyou! I headed down to The Cliffs on Saturday to catch the high tide washing away at a new fall that looked like it could be very productive after a few tides (which it turns out it was). I met fellow members @fishmore5 and another member who goes by the name Cowshark? I'm sorry I forgot. Pic 1: I found a variety of teeth and other fossils and Tigers were the plenty of the day. I was able to score some nice tiger shark teeth with sharp serrations. One of my favorite finds of the day would definitely be the full piece of ray plate. I love how it looks just like a moustache and its perfect. I also found a vertebrae, and then a few feet away I found the other half so I plan to glue the piece back together soon. There's also a pretty cool bird bone? that I found. Pic 2: My favorite bone piece. I believe it is the vert of some species of Cetecean. While I was cleaning matrix off of it a piece chipped off so I quickly ordered a bottle of Paleobond to repair it because I like how it looks. Pic 3-4: Here's a pristine Hemipristus from the cliffs, and boy do I mean it when I say this tooth is SHARP!!! Pic 5: I also found some cool bone pieces, if anyone could help identify the bone pictured in the middle I am curious, it reminds me of a collar bone. Pic 6-8: I was also blessed to score 2 very nice Makos within 2 ft of each other in a fresh fall pile being washed by the tide. The biggest measure a hair under 1 1/2" and if you look closely you can actually see mini cusps! I think the cusps are very neat and was wondering if cusps are a rare occurrence? Overall I have been happy with my last few trips, always finding something new and interesting. Still hoping for my first Meg of the season, I have been unlucky so far but I know eventually I will strike gold. And plus any day out fossil hunting is better than a day stuck inside!
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Hey all, I haven't posted in a while, but I've been on two more trips recently. On the day after Christmas, my dad and I headed back to Brownie's Beach for my second (and his first) trip there. Although we were pretty wiped out from Christmas Day, we were determined to arrive early in hope of some good finds. We ended up getting to the park just after sunrise. The sunshine over the horizon of the Bay is always a beautiful sight. We weren't quite the first people there, but we got right to work as soon as we put our bags down. My dad stayed near the entrance and got a chance to try out his new shark tooth sifter on the sand bank. I made my way south, and combed along the base of the cliffs. The tide got really low this time; the lowest I've ever had on a trip. There were a fair amounts of fellow hunters there, and I was able to chat with the ones that I crossed paths with while searching. At one point in the afternoon, I patted my pants pocket to feel for my cell phone, and nothing was there. Of course, my heart skipped a beat and I thought maybe I had put it somewhere else in my vest or something, but it was really gone. I turned around and went back to where I had been hunting just before to see if it had fallen out, and looked for it for about half an hour (wasting precious hunting time!). Eventually I found it dangling from the lanyard attached to the waterproof case I had it in; the branch of a fallen tree in the water had snagged it out of my pocket when I climbed over it. My phone was halfway in the water, but thanks to the case suffered no damage. How's that for a scare? After that episode, I tried sifting for a bit and didn't find all that much. But while I was out on the sand bank, I found my first ever upper Hemi! It was pretty small, but in good condition with serrations intact and all. I was thrilled with this because Hemipristis teeth are my absolute favorite. I also tried my hand at searching in cliff falls. I found a few small teeth in some clay-like falls, along with a complete small shark vert and a really big porpoise/dolphin tooth. For the last few hours, I wasn't finding all that much until in our last hour of hunting, as the sun began to set, I found three really nice teeth: a Mako, a Tiger, and my first ever Cow Shark tooth! On our way out, we got to see what has got to be among the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen, with all sorts of crazy colors. Overall, it was a fantastic trip that fully restored my faith in Brownie's Beach as a productive fossil site after a not-so-successful first trip. My finds this go around had some amazing variety. I found a handful of really nice Tigers, both Physogaleus and Galeocerdo. Also got a ton of Sand Tigers, many of which had some really killer cusps, which look totally awesome. It was a decent day for Hemis as well; I got a couple small uppers and one decent lower that is quite complete (lower Hemis seem like they're always broken). I of course got a ton of the small common teeth like Lemons and Carcharhinus sp. and some ray plates too. I managed to find four porpoise-like teeth, including the one really big one I talked about earlier. I'm thrilled with the Mako and the Cow, of course, and also found a couple near-complete Chesapectan, and a fish and shark vert. That sums up my trip on the day after Christmas. I've decided to include something new in these trips reports of mine: The Hop 5! (Hoppe Top 5) For each trip report, I will now also post what I personally think are my top 5 finds for the day, with pictures and descriptions included. Be sure to let me know if you agree with the Hop 5 or if you think some other finds deserve a spot instead. Also, please feel free to correct me if you think I may have incorrectly identified one of the finds. Hope you all enjoy! Hoppe hunting!
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Went shark tooth hunting on a frigid day and found hardly any shark teeth, probably buried in the snow/ice, but did find this in the slush. Anyone able to identify it? Thanks!
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Stealthynimrod posted a gallery image in Member Collections
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From the album: Chesapeake Fossils
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Our final day saw us leaving Greenville at 5am on the way back north to Calvert Cliffs. Matoaka Beach Cabins to be exact. A breezy but beautiful day! Very little in the way of teeth and my daughter found all of them. One of them she darn near dove for. The photos will explain why.
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This specimen and dozens like it were collected from matrix material deposited in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay by a landslide. It is one of only a few species that consistently survived intact in the matrix samples I collected. Most specimens were single, unbroken valves, but several had both valves together and intact. This specimen was donated to the Delaware Museum of Natural History. Formerly known as Corbula inequalis.
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So sorry its been a few months since i posted my finds just been really busy. Here are my finds from Calvert cliffs for the past couple months sorry for the delay in posting my finds and this was my first Giant Thresher ever in 25+ years of collectin on the bay!! Plus a ground shot of one of the megs and some associated whale material it was a good spring but alas now the sand and high water have arrived come on fall!!!!
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Headed out last Sunday to Bayfront Park. I got down there before the sun even came up and there were still people down there. I don't think its possible to go without running into some one down there. The water was really high and cloudy from all the rain we've had, so pickings were slim. I did manage to find a mako sticking out of some fallen formation out of the cliffs. The tooth is in great shape but the gums are a little beat up. What i really like about this mako is it really shows some wicked feeding damage from where the shark bit its own tooth. I wonder what it could be eating. I hope you enjoy. If you frequent Bayfront park hit me up I'd love to have someone to go with sometimes. Boneheadz
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Headed out for a trip to Bayfront Park on Wednesday with my GirlFriend to see if any megs would come our way. Although we didn't find any megs we did find some cool things. One of the pictures shows something I cant identify, its fossilized for sure but I can't tell what it is. Maybe coprolite? Also found a sweet Dolphin tooth and shark vert. Boneheadz
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It's been a really long time since I last went hunting at Bayfront Park. So I took the trip down there to see what i could find. It was a beautiful day out, but with nice days comes a ton of people down on the beach. I headed around the cliffs and the number of people dropped haha. The water was murky and having people beat me down there resulted in not finding much that day. I was able to find a nice vert and a jaw bone that looks like to me to be either dolphin or porpoise. There was also a lot of cave ins along the cliffs so everyone be careful out there! Boneheadz
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Hello everyone, I was recently exploring around the Chesapeake Bay where I live and I came across about 20 of these fossils. They were inside of some clay at the bottom of these cliffs attached to the bay. If anyone can let me know what they may be and what they may have belonged to at one time that would be awesome. -Mike
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It was horribly hot and I found that I decided that I could spend a few hours on my day off in the water. Literally in the water. Rather than walk the local cliffs or paddle out to a spot I tend to favor, I decided today would be the day I tested out some newly acquired snorkeling gear and see if my luck would improve. Yea...No. We have had storms. We have had cliff fall. But today, all the patience, tools, and honey-hole visits couldn't muster much more than a few smaller teeth, a single small vertebrae, and bone fragments. And snorkeling is fun, but it doesn't do much good in our very murky Bay water. So I'll have to be satisfied with being in the water and splashing around to beat the heat for a couple of hours, the small cowshark fossil I found and the knowledge that maybe its time to start looking for a new hunting ground for the rest of the summer.
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From the album: Calvert Cliffs
Balanus sp. Found at Matoaka Beach, St. Leonard, MD Miocene era, 10-20 myo Specimen is 4 inches long.© Heather J M Siple
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