mzkleen Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 I was at Cape May NJ recently right before the Labor Day holiday for a couple of days. managed to squeeze in some time looking for stuff on the beaches. One day we were at the beach in Cape May and another day we were at Higbee Beach for a couple of hours until the biting flies chased us off. I found a few things, nothing major. I did find a really interesting shell that has what looks like plant impressions on the inside of the shell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzkleen Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 I found this stone that has what I think are a sponge mold of some sort. You can feel the bumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzkleen Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 I found a stone with a shell imbedded in it. You can see the pat of the shell on the underside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Cool finds : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 That modern clam shell looks like it was grazed on by a snail or something; pretty! The other two pieces have traveled a long way; they probably eroded out of the Appalachian Mountains and have been thumbing rides in streams and rivers ever since! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzkleen Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 I think I found some verts too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 I think I found some verts too. Those look like water-worn pieces of chert to me. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzkleen Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 And lastly, some teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzkleen Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 Auspex, you think those things that I thought were verts are chert? I'm not a real expert at ID'ing some of these things. Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ailsa Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 The first picture is really beautiful, great finds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Auspex, you think those things that I thought were verts are chert? I'm not a real expert at ID'ing some of these things. Interesting. Yeah, and so are the "teeth", I'm afraid. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Whats chert? : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Whats chert? Chert is a hard, resistant, silica-rich microcrystalline rock of sedimentary origin; similar to flint. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crinoid Queen Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 (edited) So sorry they are not teeth I know it sux to think you have found one thing and learn it is another Next time you will find some! Great job on the other stuff!! -CQ Edited September 11, 2012 by Crinoid Queen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Thanks Auspex : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzkleen Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Thank you Auspex! Thanks Survivor, Crinoid Queen and Ailsa. The shell is a real surprise. I collect shells every time I'm at the shore and make things with them. I like using them in making stepping stones for the garden. I've never seen anything like that in a shell before. It's just amazing. You just never know what you'll find when you're hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hi mzkleen...as far as i know, the only places to find any fossils near Cape May, is in the spoil pile they formed by dredging out the canal. it's right at the western end of the canal, if your facing the canal, it's on your right. ive searched there a few times, but never found anything too interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Any Cape May "Diamonds"? I might be in Cape May camping in a few weeks ( I would have picked a different place closer to fossils) any suggestions for fossils nearby (in addition to the excellent Lordpiney suggestion above)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glacialerratic Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 The second post, the bumpy one looks like a small piece of stromatoporoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzkleen Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hey lordpiney, I was going to go to those spoil piles but the biting flies and the grown up vegetation changed my mind. I will wait until after the first hard frost and go back to the spoil piles. Scylla, I found lots of nicer "diamonds" at Higbee Beach near the canal. They were also a little bigger and clearer than the ones you find at Sunset beach. There's a stream that comes out on Higbee Beach closer to Sunset that I was wading around in looking for stuff. I didn't spend too much time there because of the biting flies. I put bug spray on myself but after being in the humidity and the water my protection didn't last real long. The flies are really bad there at Higbee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedrobento Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hi there, We have a summer house in Townbank and I spend many hours at the Delaware Bay, Higbee Beach, Sunset Beach collecting paleozoic material, mainly tiny pieces from favosites and other tabulata, but also find some solitary corals and the occasional crinoid ring. From my experience, sunset beach is the best spot, unlike Higbee beach. The Bay is ok if you use enough mosquito and fly repellent. Pedro Pedro Bento, M.Sci. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hitekmastr Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Nan and I collected some "Cape May diamonds" when we were dating, many years ago. Your fossil finds are VERY impressive, especially the shell with the leaf patterns. It almost looks like something "colonized" the dark leaf patterns because of the dark color and wound up forming those bumpy patterns. It is hard to imagine a colonizing bryozoan or coral or other colony forming natural leaf patterns like that. This is the most curious of your finds, but you definitely have a keen eye. I wonder with Auspex if these washed down from the mountain formations, or occurred here, eons ago. With your keen eye, can't wait to see what you find in the spoil pile - Nan has mentioned visiting a site this winter but - brrrr! - chipping cold frozen rocks, not my thing. Check out my new post on our stop at Deer Lake. We look forward to seeing you this Sunday at Juniata - hoping to find some dipleura there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Hey lordpiney, I was going to go to those spoil piles but the biting flies and the grown up vegetation changed my mind. I will wait until after the first hard frost and go back to the spoil piles. The black flies are only bad if there is a west wind blowing. they will be gone til next summer in a few weeks! good luck searching the spoil pile. i never found anything too interesting there, but maybe that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 (edited) The first fossil I ever found was on Sunset Beach many years ago; a trilobite fragment. Anybody fossil hunt in the area recently? I mean in the last few months? Edited April 13, 2013 by NorthernSandMermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoreBack Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Hi Folks, I'm a Jersey guy and my wife and I found this Great White on her birthday in October 2010 right on the beach at Pittsburgh Ave. in Cape May. We didn't find any other fossil material, and we looked! I figure that this tooth is late Miocene or possibly Pliocene. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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