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We decided to take a vacation down to the Solomon's to celebrate our anniversary with a whole bunch of fossil hunting. For our first time out to the area, I'd call the trip a resounding success! We managed to visit the Calvert Cliffs State Park, Matoaka Beach, Cove Point & also attempted to visit Flag Ponds though the park was almost always at capacity. Our goal was to focus on shark's teeth though we wound up finding a larger array of non-shark material instead. Perhaps a reflection of the large influx of new to the hobby collectors focusing heavily on teeth? Overall, my impressions on the locations we visited/tried to visit Calvert Cliffs State Park Certainly my favorite location speaking to the overall experience. Taking the red trail (avoid the service road route, same distance but a much harsher up and down hike) gives you a gorgeous scenic 1.8mi hike through salt marshes and wetlands until you hit the strip of beach with cliff exposures The water here was clear with no jellyfish, algae or jagged rocks - such a refreshing dip when i'd take a break from beachcombing Collecting directly under the cliffs is dangerous/ill-advised as landslides do happen fairly often. While choosing to do so is at your own risk, there are many exposures and recent cliff falls to collect from I spent my time chasing after a "giant scallop" - after scouting around a bit I managed to hit the jackpot by carefully digging a couple of well preserved 5-7" scallops out of the sandy cliff falls Matoaka Beach I'd call Matoaka a solid #2, the diversity of inverts we found was impressive but we also ran into a ton of bugs on the beach along with a shore full of jellyfish which made the visit ever so slightly miserable Very crowded with a good portion of folks sifting for teeth, I spoke with a few people along the shore and most had maybe one or two teeth to show for a couple of hours of searching - knowing that I spent my time searching the shore for invert material instead There were a couple of cliff exposures along the north end of the beach, though most of what I could poke at was overly chalky and would instantly disintegrate including an almost intact ecphora Flag Ponds Calling flag ponds overcrowded would be an understatement, we visited the park 3 times on 2 different days only for it to be full. I was told there was a line of cars the moment the park opened at 9am for them to hit capacity around 9:30. Bit of a shame but good to know for the future Cove Point We were lucky to have a close friend living within the cove point community whom allowed us access to the stretch of beach there Being a private beach, Cove Point had the largest amount of fossil material available for collecting along the shorelines including an abundance of bone fragments, crab claws and ray plates The weekend's haul, cleaned up and drying - prep was easier than I expected, especially on the scallops which wound up being a lot less fragile than I expected (100% thought one or two would break on the hike out of CCSP) Cliff exposure at CCSP The fall I was prodding at, corner of the scallop is visible on the right Gorgeous molds in-situ Freshly pulled from the fall - Chesapecten Nefrens Total tripmakers - more Chesapecten Nefrens after cleanup, 2 with both valves one split in two Mystery object - iron concretion or some sort of trace burrow?

Hello all, ToothMan here. This is my first trip report! I just joined this great forum. Stumbled upon it the other day. I have only been collecting about a year, and mostly fossilized sharks teeth at that. I also collect ray plates, I have one porpoise tooth, two crocodile teeth, some crab claw fossils, mostly marine creatures but focus mainly on shark teeth. I'm looking forward to expanding my searches for more than just teeth. Here is a link https://imgur.com/gallery/CO2q2gg to an imgur gallery from my most recent trip. Trip report below! I have some great teeth in my collection but wanted to report on my best finds to date, which ocurred over the past two days. I had some exceptional luck, paired with a keen eye, resulting in my first two Megalodon teeth ever found. I live in Solomon's, Md, and frequent some of the same sites I'm sure some of you do. Those being Calvert Cliffs, Brownies beach, flag ponds, etc. I also hunt Cove point a lot. My grandparents have a house down there so I frequent that beach often. Ive had my best finds so far there over the past two days. Last night I was there at low tide around 10:30 and found my first Megalodon tooth! I was ecstatic! I didnt think you could find those here. I thought they were mostly at calvert cliffs but I guess some wash down. I found a bunch of smaller teeth as well. Then today, I went back around noon for low tide again. Did my usual walk up to the point, picking up a bunch of small teeth along the way couple with a few hemi's here and there. I walked around past the lightouse and began finding some really nice mako's! I absolutely love finding mako teeth. Found some in the waves crashing and even up at the high tide line. The water,was still a little cold today but bearable. I wore shorts and sandals and took my sandals off, walking thru knee deep water one way searching, and up on the beach looking on the way back. I went home, happy with these finds. But I decided to return around 5 even though the tide was coming back in and I didnt expect to find much. But boy was I wrong. By this point it was really windy and the waves were really large, crashing and moving material all over the place. This is good as it turns up more stuff, but its harder to collect. You have to be quick. I felt like the karate kid snatching a fly out of my trainers hand diving in to grab teeth I had just spotted before they were swept away by the surf! Many were lost that I couldnt grab quick enough. I was picking up quite a few teeth though, a bunch of makos and some nice hemi's, when I saw a huge mako! A wave had just crashed on it, I let it recede, spotted ir again, and snatched it up before another wave could sweep it away. I had been out for hours now, and was really happy with my finds. I decided to take one last walk around the point and then I saw my second meg ever sticking up out of the sand. Only the top gum line was exposed and my heart jumped as I knew exactly what it was and it looked big! I scooped it up out of the sand and cleaned the barnacles off it. I was and am so happy! Never thought id be finding Megalodon teeth. Ive had the fossil hunting bug for about two years now. It really is addicting. Happy hunting, all. -ToothMan

Now that the final fossil hunt of 2018 is over, it's safe to make a recap of this incredible year. This year is so special. Fossil Hunting has developed into my favorite thing in the world. From uncertain 5 tooth hunts to euphoria inducing 200 tooth hunts, 2018 had it all. I was introduced to this forum as well! Thank you all you wonderful people for helping me amass knowledge, teaching me of civility and ways to express myself, and letting me have fun and drool over other's awesome fossils! My tooth spotting skills have improved, very much, and so has my knowledge. Only a couple of big teeth so far, but a meg next year right ladies and gentlemen?! This is a recap of my posts this year, Enjoy.

Hi all, ToothMan here. Last Thursday I had the day off from work, and ventured back to one of my favorite hunting grounds, Cove Point. It was beautiful out, sunny and 80 degrees! I got out there around ten, and began walking the beach. There was what appeared to be a school field trip out and about in the form of 20 or so elementary aged children and some chaperones. It looked like they had probably come out to see the lighthouse and to spend a few minutes on the beach. I saw some of them collecting shells. There was also a dog running about with them on the beach, that I ended up running into again later after everyone was gone. I walked along the point and was finding some smaller teeth, but it was high tide and very windy out. This meant bigger waves and not a lot of material on the beach to search through. The large waves kept me from looking too hard in the surf. After a little bit, I decided I would come back later and look more. I walked past the field trip group again, and asked one of the adults if anyone had found anything good. They said the kids were looking for sharks teeth, but weren't having any luck. I had found a few small ones, and I already have a ton, so I asked if any of the kids might want some. They were ecstatic! I opened up my hand and let them pick whichever ones they wanted! I then explained some tips in finding them, and wished them luck. They were so happy! I was glad to pass on some of my smaller finds and maybe get some of them more interested in fossil hunting. So then I went home for a little bit, planning to return later. After a few hours, I headed back to the beach. The tide had gone out by now, the beach was empty, and the wind had died down a bit. The conditions were prime for fossil hunting!! I made my way back to the point, by the lighthouse, and starting finding some decent teeth. A few hemis and two smaller makos, one being the smallest I've ever found! I'm not sure if these are smaller in size being posterior or if they are perhaps from juvenile specimens? Perhaps someone can enlighten me. Anyways, the dog I saw earlier with the field trip group was still here, but everyone else was gone! I figured he must not have been any of theirs, and maybe got lost. I hung out with him for a bit but no one else was around looking for him. I made my way around the rocks and seawall to the other side of the lighthouse where there's another long stretch of beach. This beach runs all the way past the Dominion natural gas plant and up towards calvert cliffs and flag ponds. I check this side often, but I never go too far. The dog followed me over, and took off way down the beach! There's nothing else close to civilization down this way aside from a trail through the woods leading back to the very end of cove point road. I knew if I didn't go get the dog, he would be lost and probably never found. I followed him for probably a mile before I could get him to come back with me, thus putting my fossil hunt on hold, but I just couldnt leave him! He had no tag, only a collar. Getting him to follow me back was tough. Eventually we made it to the trail, but he was so tired out he laid down in the shade and wouldnt budge. It was so hot out and the sun shining hard. I knew he was in trouble so I left him, making my way back to my car about a mile away to get some water for us and a rope I could leash him with until I could find the owner. It took me about 45 minutes to get back but he was gone! I really hope hes okay and someone else found him. I did all I could do. At least I got him to come back closer to where there are houses and people. After that, the hunt was back on! I returned to the point, this time bringing a small pole net with me. I took some suggestions from my last post from you guys and got a little strainer type net on a pole. It really helped me scoop items out of the surf! Its come in so handy, as most times im out there its tough to grab things before another wave takes it away. And that's where I find all my large teeth just inside the water line where the waves crash. About an hour into searching later and I spotted this huge mako!! I scooped it with the net and pulled it out onto the sand! Its a beautiful specimen with nice color and a huge curve to it! All in all, I was pretty happy with the day. Found a few nice mako's, I love the huge one and the colors on the little one are spectacular!! I got so sunburned while I was out, a week later and I'm still peeling! Totally worth it though. Well that's my trip report guys, thanks for reading and ill see you on the next one! Some pictures below!