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I was able to head to the Paleocene area of the Potomac for a few of hours today, glad I did. I was heading to work, I was quite shocked to see the water was already extremely low even though low tide was supposed to be 6 hours later, I confirmed the tides when I got to work...a strong west wind had pushed the water out and I was set to have some prime time beach time with extra low tides. By the time I was able to slip out of work, I made it to the river about 2 hours before low tide...the water was already lower than I had ever seen it before; this is when I realized that I had too much of a good thing! I kept zigzagging back and forth between the waterline and the old waterline. I finally gave up the zigzag approach and decided to walk the waterline going and the old waterline coming back. The finds were less than what I was expecting but I'm not complaining either, I wish I cold have spent a few more hours out there. My trip maker was my second ever Paleocarcharodon orientalis, worn and much smaller than my first one, I almost discounted it when I originally spied it because I thought it was a broken tooth. A little voice inside my head told me to check it out and I was pleasantly surprised when I picked it up. Total haul. Paleocarcharodon orientalis and Otodus obliquus Close up of the Paleocarcharodon orientalis

Thanks to Facebook I realized the 1 year anniversary of this hobby obsession was on July 2nd. I haven't been out in the past couple of weeks due to overdue chores around the house...I hate it when adulting gets in the way of having fun! Anyway, after 5 days off for the holiday weekend, I really wasn't looking forward to going to work today...especially since I had to cross the river to the Maryland side to take care of some things at my home base. As I was getting ready to leave this morning, I decided to throw a pair of shorts and my water shoes in the car just in case...I wasn't expecting to get out early but you never know. Well, I was glad I did since I was out of there within 3 hours...off to the river I went! I showed up just before low tide and quickly headed out. I wasn't expecting much after the holiday weekend, in fact, I was expecting a crowd when I showed up. I was shocked to find out that I was the only one on the beach...and the low 80s temperature and overcast conditions made it quite nice for collecting. Within 20 minutes I had found a croc tooth and an Otodus, I was pleasantly surprised. I kept moving along and in a particularly silty area, I spied a piece of a tooth. I reached down and grabbed it and was shocked to see that it was a Paleocarcharodon Orientalis! My first one! Happy dance!!! I walked a couple of miles and was pretty happy with the finds, it truly is a great place to take kids as everyone finds teeth there. Some in situ shots: I wish I would have taken a picture of this in situ...but I quickly took a picture when I saw what it was! Total haul: Paleocarcharodon Orientalis, front and back. Couple of Otodus. Croc tooth I'm thinking turtle on this...front and back pictures.