Where Can I Find Megs (If Any) In Or Around San Jose, Ca

[Frty12345]

Hello, I'm new to collecting fossils and I am really in love with Megalodon teeth (Makos look pretty cool too I wish I had one!). I bought my first Meg (Only about 1-2 inches) in Hawaii on vacation this past June and I was wondering if there are any sites in or around the bay area that might hold Megs or Makos? I saw Sharktooth hill and the price they ask is a little too much for me to spend as a novice and a little far away as well. If anyone knows of a spot near me it would be much appreciated! Thank you in advance!

[jpc]

Well, darn, I was gonna suggest shark tooth hill.

[Frty12345]

Ah, :/ yeah it's a little too pricey and far for me . Thank you though , Any other suggestions maybe?

[Auspex]

Even at Shark Tooth Hill, Megs are excruciatingly rare. The experience of the dig there is worth the price (assuming it is within the budget), but to score a Meg in one trip would be unbelievable! I don't think there is really any site on the U.S. west coast where it wouldn't be the find of the year.

[Frty12345]

Even at Shark Tooth Hill, Megs are excruciatingly rare. The experience of the dig there is worth the price (assuming it is within the budget), but to score a Meg in one trip would be unbelievable! I don't think there is really any site on the U.S. west coast where it wouldn't be the find of the year.

Thanks Auspex, Any Makos around here maybe? Also, I'm visiting Hawaii in January so is it possible that I might be able to find some there?

[Auspex]

You should have a reasonable shot at fossil Mako teeth, if you can find a site (and I do not personally know anything about sites in your area). The Hawaiian Islands are too young to have fossils that old.

[Frty12345]

Thank you so much, I appreciate the help .

[siteseer]

The closest area is probably Scotts Valley (up 17 on the way to Santa Cruz) but I don't really know a site to try. The site everyone used to go was at the corner of Lockhart Gulch Road and Mt. Hermon Road but some company decided it was a great place to build storage lockers. The layer you are looking for is the lower part of the Santa Margarita Sandstone. You can find teeth in it but they are usually at least somewhat water-worn, makos being the most common tooth.

I would check this reference:

Clark, J.C. 1981.

Stratigraphy, paleontology, and geology of the central Santa Cruz Mountains, California Coast ranges. U.S. Geological Survey Prof. Paper 1168.

You might still find it for sale at the USGS map store in Menlo Park (Middlefield Road). If not, you can photocopy what you want from it or take notes at the library there.

The Santa Margarita is also exposed farther south around Templeton. Do a search on this site for "margarita" because a few members have talked about it.

You could also go to Santa Cruz/Capitola after winter storms and see was has washed out of the Lower Purisima Formation (Latest Miocene). You're more likely to find a great white rather than a mako or megalodon, however.

In reality your best bet is to go to Bakersfield. It's hard to say but I would throw out as a ballpark figure that you have about a 1 in 25 trips shot at a mostly-complete megalodon - slightly better odds at a partial. Yeah, you're looking at maybe $100 in gas plus food, lodging, and the pay-to-dig rate at the Ernst quarries for a Bakersfield trip but I would save up for that if I were you. You probably won't find a meg but you will find lots of makos and some other stuff if you put in the digging time. Some first-timers have beat the odds.

Other than those options, you really have to research it (again at the USGS) and then do some prospecting. I heard some teeth were being found in the east bay as part of a "paleo-salvage" operation during some construction. That would be off-limits but exposures of the same layer might exist elsewhere in the region.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/47895-whale-and-other-fossils-recovered-from-calaveras-dam-site-california/

Megs are a tough catch in California as it is in most localties. That's why a lot of collectors want one.

Hello, I'm new to collecting fossils and I am really in love with Megalodon teeth (Makos look pretty cool too I wish I had one!). I bought my first Meg (Only about 1-2 inches) in Hawaii on vacation this past June and I was wondering if there are any sites in or around the bay area that might hold Megs or Makos? I saw Sharktooth hill and the price they ask is a little too much for me to spend as a novice and a little far away as well. If anyone knows of a spot near me it would be much appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Edited July 10, 2014 by siteseer

[Frty12345]

The closest area is probably Scotts Valley (up 17 on the way to Santa Cruz) but I don't really know a site to try. The site everyone used to go was at the corner of Lockhart Gulch Road and Mt. Hermon Road but some company decided it was a great place to build storage lockers. The layer you are looking for is the lower part of the Santa Margarita Sandstone.

I would check this reference:

The Santa Margarita is also exposed farther south around Templeton. Do a search on this site for "margarita" because a few members have talked about it.

You could also go to Santa Cruz/Capitola after winter storms and see was has washed out of the Lower Purisima Formation (Latest Miocene). You're more likely to find a great white rather than a mako or megalodon.

In reality your best bet is to go to Bakersfield. It's hard to say but I would throw out as a ballpark figure that you have about a 1 in 25 trips shot at a mostly-complete megalodon - slightly better odds at a partial. Yeah, you're looking at maybe $100 in gas plus food, lodging, and the pay-to-dig rate at the Ernst quarries for a Bakersfield trip but I would save up for that if I were you. You probably won't find a meg but you will find lots of makos and some other stuff if you put in the digging time. Some first-timers have beat the odds.

Alright, thanks man, I'll be sure to look that up . I might try Bakersfield but as of now it's just too expensive :/.

[siteseer]

Yeah, it's expensive when you add it all up. It was easier when gas was under $3/gallon. Save your money. If you ever have to drive to L.A. or other points south of the Bay Area, make a detour to Bakersfield. If you like shark teeth, you have to do it some time. It's like visiting or living in Florida and going to Venice for the Shark Tooth Festival or visiting Dr Gordon Hubbell's shark museum.

Alright, thanks man, I'll be sure to look that up . I might try Bakersfield but as of now it's just too expensive :/.

[Frty12345]

Yeah, it's expensive when you add it all up. It was easier when gas was under $3/gallon. Save your money. If you ever have to drive to L.A. or other points south of the Bay Area, make a detour to Bakersfield. If you like shark teeth, you have to do it some time. It's like visiting or living in Florida and going to Venice for the Shark Tooth Festival or visiting Dr Gordon Hubbell's shark museum.

Will do sorry, one more question, is 73$ for a 4-5 inch meg tooth worth it?

[jpc]

This is a personal opinion, from a guy who would much rather look for his own fossils than buy one, but the 73 bucks might be better tucked into a piggy bank labeled Shark Tooth Hill Fund.

[fossilselachian]

Will do sorry, one more question, is 73$ for a 4-5 inch meg tooth worth it?

Condition, size, and location are the factors to consider when determining a fair price for a meg. A 4-5" meg could sell for many hundreds of $$ (even much more) gIven the right circumstances. Again based on the above listed criteria a 4-5" meg could be overpriced at $73. Whatever a meg is worth to you, is usually the correct price.

[Scylla]

In my experience it is almost always cheaper to buy a fossil than to find one. That may seem counterintuitive, but it is true. The only reason I even fossil hunt (versus just buy my collection) is the thrill you get when you find an amazing fossil. That fossil then can rekindle the feeling even several decades later when you pull it out of a drawer and remember how you found it. I think STH is really your best bet. You won't find a Meg, but I guarantee you'll find at least one Mako. If you spend time prospecting sites you may find something, but it will cost more in gas and time than STH will.

[Boesse]

Your best bet is to go to Sharktooth Hill - it's produced the largest number of megalodon specimens from the west coast. For a manuscript I'm currently working on, I did a quick survey of C. megalodon specimens from three museums - LACM, UCMP, and SDNHM - and only 145 specimens have ever been collected; that includes all Miocene and Pliocene strata. For whatever reason, they're not as common here on the west coast.

As Jess mentioned, you can find C. megalodon teeth in the Purisima - I've only ever heard of two specimens. One was collected by a private collector seemingly uninterested in science, and I collected the other in 2007 and is now cataloged in UCMP collections. That was after about five years of searching; in 5-6 years of further searching I've not seen another. I've attached a figure from our in prep manuscript of the Purisima C. megalodon specimen.

Locally, you've got better chances in the Santa Margarita Sandstone in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The teeth are waterworn and often fragmented, but it's actually fairly easy to find C. megalodon "chunks" there. On my first time screening sediment there back in 2002, I found three or four chunks and half of a ~2.5" tooth. Not spectacular, but not bad for a first day. I found a waterworn but clearly pathologic C. megalodon tooth subsequently. There are some better C. megalodon specimens at the Santa Cruz Museum (see attached).

[Frty12345]

Boesse, are those both from Santa Cruz's museum?

[Boesse]

Nope, as I mentioned I donated it to UCMP so I could publish on it - University of California Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley. The other ones are on display at SCMNH.

[Frty12345]

Ah, awful nice of you to donate that

[mammothhunter]

I would love to dig some megs up as well. As far as I know, we don't have them here... :/

[Boesse]

Ah, awful nice of you to donate that

Well, I'll admit it was in my own best interest: 1) I get to publish on it now, and donating material to museums is pretty gratifying. Regardless, as a paleontologist now, everything I collect is destined for museum collections because... 2) I absolutely do not miss the clutter from before when I had everything in my apartment during my undergraduate years. Also, for my own use of time, fieldwork is a waste of time for me unless it is going to result in building museum collections up - unless a fossil ends up in a museum, it cannot be published upon by any of us.

[caldigger]

I know the cost variable for a trip to STH in Bakersfield may seem rather costly, but the memories you take with you are well worth the cost. I don't think too many people will look back fondly at the day the fossil arrived in the mail, but the memory of uncovering something yourself after it hasn't seen the light of day for several million years is something you will never forget.

Besides, Ernst Quarries doesn't open up again until fall so you have a few months to save up for it.

I have been there many times and have yet to find a Meg, however, I enjoy the experience each and every time. There are always "guest" diggers from all over the U.S. as well as from many other countries flying out there to spend a few days in the STH field. I met one gentleman from San Francisco on his first journey to the quarries and he had such a good time, he goes as often as he can now.

[Frty12345]

Thanks Caldigger, it's just that I don't have transportation to get down there and I have no idea how to buy membership from them (I think it's required to dig there... which I think is stupid but it is what it is).

[Frty12345]

And I agree, it would be much more fulfilling if I found an awesome tooth myself but I just can't get down there . What I'd love to do is go to South Carolina to certain sites where I can just walk onto them for free, but I'm WAY too far away from that lol.

[Scylla]

You can download the form for membership from the web site here:

http://www.sharktoothhill.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&page_id=5

[siteseer]

The membership fee helps keep the doors open at the Buena Vista Museum. The late Bob Ernst thought letting people dig on his land was a good way to encourage membership. When he found out people were doing other things to help the museum like donating specimens, creating visual aids for the displays, or prepping fossils for free, he invited those people to dig for free as well. Keep in mind that the Ernst quarries are as close to a gold mine as a fossil deposit gets. The last time I dug there, I found over fifty complete makos including a couple over two inches plus a pile of other things like Carcharhinus teeth, Galeocerdo, two Hemipristis teeth, and some marine mammal bones. I found all that in around four hours.

Thanks Caldigger, it's just that I don't have transportation to get down there and I have no idea how to buy membership from them (I think it's required to dig there... which I think is stupid but it is what it is).