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I just recently moved from the Mid-Atlantic to Seattle, and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer variety of geological formations I've encountered around Puget Sound beaches and nearby mountain trails. My kids (4 and 6) are starting to show an interest in looking for rocks and fossils, so I'll probably be leaning on you guys to help us identify our finds (at least any that look potentially fossil-y). My previous major experience with fossil hunting was during college ~15 years ago in north Florida, when I used to screen gravel beds in local creeks with a friend of mine. We mostly found dugong ribs and sharks' teeth, with occasional other stuff, so my IDing skills will probably prove grossly insufficient around Puget Sound.

I found this last week beachcombing on Sand Key in Clearwater Florida. Just curious...At first I thought it was just a sea rock with worn holes. But then I noticed the tapered shape and the graduated concave grooves and center hole. Thinking maybe it is the mold of the inside of a seashell? Normally I don't find fossils there but sea was rough and I did find a piece of a fossil dugong bone the same day, which I normally never find there. It measures about 1.25" by 1.25" by 1 1/8". Darker color in grooves and center hole with some charcoal and golden brown hues. Any ideas what this could be?

I found this on Beach. It looks like an animal pelvis but I wouldn't have a clue... HELP PLEASE IDENTIFY

Hi, My name is Rodney and I am a fairly new fossil hunter from coastal Northern California. I am excited to find this website and I will be coming by here often. I have been a rockhound for awhile now, mainly in search of beach agates with banding. I first started getting interested in fossil hunting about 9 months ago after I noticed some fossil shell clusters in sandstone while camping on the Van Duzen river. Since then I have gone back and also found marine fossils at moonstone beach and trinidad head. I know about Scotia Bluffs and Centerville Beach, but haven't been yet. I have found fossil sand dollars, clam, dogwinkle, scallop, barnicle, and more. What prompted me to write this post is some shells that I found at the beach on the south jetty recently. They are all between 2-3". My wife found the whole shell (last picture) when she was walking our dog there. I'm guessing it's a fossil of a cockle shell in limestone or shale. I went to the same spot to check it out. The last two times I went I found these shell fragments which appear to be agatized. Could these be fragments of fossils which have been filled in with or attached to chalcedony or quartz? One of them has a bluish moonstone like iridescence and they all appear to have banding. Is this possible or am I mistaking shells for something else? They seem too thick to be shells. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to keep going back to look for more; these are cool and I've never found anything like them on the beach before. Also if anyone knows of any good local spots or tips that would be great. I have checked out a few helpful websites, but I'm still not entirely sure what to look for. Thanks