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Hi, everyone! Got back to New Jersey on Tuesday, after a weekend at Ernst Quarries. This was my second trip to the site, the first was back in 2018. The weather was perfect- not too hot and cool towards the late afternoon. All three days were pretty well booked, as far as I could tell, but most everyone seems to leave by 1 or 2:00. Met a bunch of great people, and I think I had a really good dig. In the first photo, the top section shows everything I found on Friday and Saturday- all but 2 or 3 from the same hole in the "main" area, including a section of leatherback turtle shell (left side, halfway down) and a sea lion tooth (top row, just right of center). The grid is my cutting board with 1" squares. At the end of the Sunday dig, I was checking out a previously started hole out away from the main site, across the road just before it makes a right turn to wind around to the parking lot, and pretty quickly found a nice Hooked White that, at the time, had a nice blue-grey tint to it. Rob told me that it's probably going to be a pretty good spot and let me park right next to it on the following morning. It was pretty darn good. The bottom section of the photo shows what I found on Monday, all from the same spot and without using a sifter. I stopped using the sifter halfway into Sunday- I just used the fan method with the shovel. I stand above the hole and cut away a section so it falls into the pit and then, one shovel at a time, scoop that up and fan it in my discard pile so I can see what's in it. Not as thorough, but you get through a lot more material, and anything big enough you WILL see. Also, my back was killing me from using the hand held sifters on the previous days. I made a previous post showing that teeth from Ernst don't just glow under long wave uv light (365 nm), but they phosphoresce (glow for a bit after removing the light). None of the teeth from the second site glow at all, except for a couple of the more orange-colored smaller ones in the lower right. Some of the teeth have a nice satiny, slightly pearlescent finish. Can't wait to go back!

The specimen was found at Ernst Quarries, Temblor formation, round mountain silt. This reminds me of a ray plate except the plate is somewhat wedge shaped, with very thin teeth (?). One longer “tooth” remains in the matrix. Sorry I couldn’t clean it up better, while attempting to do so, it popped out of the matrix. I hope to glue it back in place to complete the prep, but the risk of further damage may change my mind. This prep has revealed multiple specimens, changing the plan and approach again and again. Nice problem to have,right? The last photo shows one of three larger specimens in the original matrix. I will seek additional IDs and prep advice in separate posts.

Hi people, I'm visiting the ernst quarries on Friday June 5th 2020. First time there, I'm from Spain so it will be an intensive and exciting day. If someone from the forum joins just let me know. Cheers!!

I would like to try to prep a whale vertebra I found, but I have a few questions before diving into the preservation part. My questions come in 2 parts: Paraloid suggestions and matrix removal questions. Paraloid: For something this big, should I attempt to find a container and dunk the whole thing in the paraloid solution, or should I use a brush to go around the whole surface? Any suggestions for the ratio of paraloid to acetone? 1:10? 1:20? I've read different ratios thrown around, but I'm not sure what is best for which situation. Matrix removal: There is a large section of material on the under side of the vertebra that I'm unsure about removing. This rectangular section seems to be much harder than the rest of easily removable soil. Even though it transitions from reddish to tan in color, it is all the same hardness. Should I even attempt to remove it, or just leave it? It's clearly not part of the original vertebra, but I'm not sure what it even is. Thanks a lot for any help and/or suggestions! Fossil ID post with additional pictures:

Earlier this summer I had a chance to dig at Slow Curve at Ernst Quarries. A few teeth were found along with a small dolphin vertebra, but the best find was this large whale(?) vertebra I pulled out as the rain clouds were quickly approaching. From my internet research, I believe it is a whale lumbar vertebra, but that is all I could determine. Whatever it is, I feel lucky to have found it and want to know as much as I can about it! Is there any chance to pin down anything more specific about this piece, such as species? Ideally, I would like to reconstruct the broken processes and make a display. Are there any collections of images for whale vertebrae that could also help with identification? (I couldn't find any good sources while searching) Am I correct in thinking the two parallel broken processes in the second image were the top (dorsal?) of the bone? Is it possible to tell which way the bone faced toward the head and tail originally? I appreciate any help that you guys and gals can provide! Each of the photos has a US quarter, Euro, and centimeter scale for reference. (I first tried photos with lights on both sides, but then the shape of the vertebra was very difficult to see.)

Hi everyone, I was going through some tiny teeth from a recent trip to Ernst quarries (Bakersfield; round mountain silt; ~ 15 mya) and came across this intriguing little tooth. It is ~11 mm and serrated on both sides. Is this a tiny meg or just wishful thinking?

Hello. I'm going to be driving out to the west coast this week and I've really been wanting to visit the Ernst Quarries for the first time. On the website, apparently you need to reserve a spot, so I'm looking at October 18th and 19th, which show as available on the calendar. I submitted a request, but my firewall tried to block the the next page that occurred after submitting it. I'm pretty sure it went through, but I was paranoid, so I also texted the number on the site asking about the reservation. That was on Monday, October 8th. I haven't heard anything back. Is this normal? There's an email address, but I don't want to be a pest. It's just that I'm booking a hotel in Bakersfield for those days, so I'm kind of nervous that I'll find out too late that I can't get in. Also, if I do get in, I've never done this kind of digging for fossils. I did watch a couple Youtube vids, though!

This came from Ernst Quarries last year at slow curve. I don't think this is a hooked Mako because of the micro serration on both sides of the tooth, so what is it? I know I failed to include a scale but this tooth will just cover an American Quarter. Thanks in advance!

I had to make a business trip to California and to the San Joaquin Valley this week. I planned for a partial day on Thursday to take some time for myself and do some hunting. After checking the weather, it was clear it was going to be a scorcher even for a Texan but I figured I would take my chances with the elements and book some time anyway. I got in contact with Rob at Ernst Quarries and arranged for a half day dig. We met at the gate at 8am. At first I thought I was at the wrong entrance since I was the only one there. Rob pulled up and told me there was a possibility I could be the only one there for the day. After waiting several minutes we headed up the road and made the turn towards the Slow Curve area. Rob was kind enough to show me around. There were plenty of tools and sifters available as well as hammers and chisels to break through the different layers. He warned me to watch for snakes and and call him if I needed anything. They had spotted a small rattler the day before in the same area but I was pretty certain the snakes are smarter than me and were not going to expose themselves to the 96 degree weather that I was about to subject myself to. I started in an area where two Meg's were found the week before. It was my first time chiseling into the bone bed and was not really sure what I was doing at first. I found a couple of small teeth and of course broke the root on the first not heeding warnings not to clean in the field which was a temptation I thought I had gotten out of my system on my last visit. I found a small piece of Meg, a fragledon or in this case a specladon. It got my juices flowing but that was the closest I was coming to a Meg for the day. The heat was harsh. I was hydrating almost as much as I was digging. I split my day up by chilling a while then sifting a while then when I got too hot, checking the surface while drinking water and wishing that I could have come on Friday when the temperature was a forecasted 75 degrees after a front. None the less I kept going until about 1:00 when I had to head to LAX for a 6:30 flight back to DFW. I left with a handful of nice teeth as my reward for the day. A few new firsts for my collection including my tiny frag of a Meg, a first hemi, and a partial cow shark. I love how it keeps producing enough to keep me happy but leaves me also already dreaming about the next trip and hitting the honey hole. Here are some pics of some of my finds. Thank you for looking.

Hello TFF members, The family and I decided to book a trip to Las Vegas the week of March 21. I have to admit, part of the decision was due to the fact Sharktooth Hill was only a ~ 4 hour drive away. I had looked at the Ernst Quarry website and noted Slow Curve was open Tues-Thurs that week. I sent an email to Rob (quarry website) right after booking the trip, as I have wanted to get out there for many years now. I have not heard back yet, but I also left a voicemail and it stated it might take 7 days for a response. I'm looking to drive over either Wed. March 23 or Thurs. March 24, depending on the weather. I know this is short notice and during the week, but if anybody is interested in meeting up at the Quarry, I would enjoy having some company to dig and talk to on the adventure (family is staying in Vegas with friends, so I'm making the trip alone). Jay

Hey all I will be heading down to the Ernst Quarries in Bakersfield for 3 days and am scheduled to hunt Slow Curve. I was wondering if it is worth hiking over to East Quarey and paying the additional $20 fee to hunt there since I've heard they have better quality teeth there. Also how does one recommend hunting East Quarry because when I last sent to Slow Curve the ground seemed to hard to dig straight down into the Bonebed like I saw on YouTube videos which they did in the East Quarry? Thanks for your time

Hello all...this vert is from the Ernst East Quarry....Miocene..Round Mountain Silt...I'm not even in the ballpark trying to nail this down...I was thinking that this might be a Caudal vertebra of a dolphin...... any thoughts? It's 4 cm in height...4cm wide...I'm assuming the holes are for Vertebral Arteries?