cmwilson101 Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 I have 6 weeks of sabbatical starting in Jan. I booked pre-Covid and was due to explore SE Asia. Rather than rebooking, I decided to go fossil hunting instead, and now I am having a great time planning how to explore the fossils of Florida. I live on Amelia Island, and will dedicate some time to really scouting the local area for some sites that look like they have fossil potential (based upon Google Earth and old PDFs) because it'd be really awesome to have some more local spots to hunt. In addition, I am planning a loop around Florida, from Amelia Island to: Gainesville - teeth, UF Yankeetown - echinoids! Gardner/Peace River - megs! and maybe some mollusks Venice/Caspersen Beach - teeth, and hopefully some other fossils Caloosahatchee River - mollusks Sanibel - fossils in the causeway and Wentletrap shells on the beach (and is it possible to find wentletraps anywhere in Florida or the South? that would be the best prize of all!) I am still researching the Panhandle, the entire East Coast, and maybe Georgia/S Carolina. I am interested in all fossils but am especially interested in mollusks and echinoids. And contemporaneous shells. I would appreciate feedback on whether these places are worth visiting, and/or other suggestions of some good places to find fossils -- not specific spots (that would spoil the fun of the hunt!), but just some pointers to general areas to make this a fun and productive time. I feel incredibly fortunate to be given a sabbatical and want to make the most of it. Finally, I'd appreciate recommendations for fossil hunting tour guides who focus upon shells, echinoids, invertebrates, and plants. I was hoping to book something with Paleo Chris and Wild Kyle because of the eclectic nature of their trips, but it looks like they aren't doing guided tours any longer. Thanks in advance! Cheryl PS Hope that maybe @Shellseeker and @MikeR see this. I'm hoping you as Floridians might have pointers to some general areas since you both appear to appreciate mollusks, esp bivalves. Thank you! Cheers, Cheryl “It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire.” ~RL Stevenson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas.Dodson Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 I can't speak for any Florida sites beyond what you've listed but I've spent some fossil hunting time in Georgia (and a little bit in SC). If you make it up that far like you're considering I probably have suggestions depending on where specifically you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacha Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 If our schedules coincide and the weather cooperates I may be able to take you to the Yankeetown spoil islands for echinoids. Just keep me posted with your schedule. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmwilson101 Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 On 12/16/2020 at 11:50 PM, Thomas.Dodson said: I can't speak for any Florida sites beyond what you've listed but I've spent some fossil hunting time in Georgia (and a little bit in SC). If you make it up that far like you're considering I probably have suggestions depending on where specifically you go. Thank you!! If you tell me that your profile pix was found in Georgia, that is where I am going! Cheers, Cheryl “It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire.” ~RL Stevenson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmwilson101 Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 On 12/17/2020 at 4:49 AM, Sacha said: If our schedules coincide and the weather cooperates I may be able to take you to the Yankeetown spoil islands for echinoids. Just keep me posted with your schedule. John John, this is amazing. That would be so awesome. I'll let you know once things firm up. THANK YOU!! Cheers, Cheryl “It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire.” ~RL Stevenson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas.Dodson Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 26 minutes ago, cmwilson101 said: Thank you!! If you tell me that your profile pix was found in Georgia, that is where I am going! That one is a Dakota ammonite. This is an ammonite I collected from Georgia. Pardon the penny for scale overseas forum members, this is just a crappy old database photo. The ammonites don''t appear to be that common in the Cretaceous deposits but some of the Georgia Cretaceous finds are my overall favorite from a BUNCH of fossil collecting I did all across Georgia. A large Deinosuchus rugosus tooth tops the list of my Georgia fossils. It is worth mentioning the Cretaceous deposits are in the western portion of the state so are kind of out of the way. Even if you stayed east and went to South Carolina like you mentioned there are lots of great Eocene, Oligocene, and Mio-Pleistocene deposits though. I spent a lot of time chasing after a Basilosaurus tooth in the Eocene deposits. It was my white whale (tooth). Maybe some day I'll return to find one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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