DinoMike Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 (edited) Here are the Megalodon teeth that I found in a phosphate mine near Fort Meade, FL. Actually, it was a closed mine. Cargill (before they became Mosaic) would dump post-processed overburden from their active mines there in big piles, so that fossil clubs, Scout troops etc. could hunt with lower risk than in an active mine. The downside to this is that the stuff had all been through the phosphate mining machinery, pipes, etc... so it was ALL banged up. Still, better than nothing, as you can see! (I think the bottom right tooth is actually mako, not meg.) .. and then, there's THIS guy! This big boy is the crown jewel of my collection! I didn't find this one, a member of the Tampa Bay Fossil Club found it in a South Carolina river & donated it to the club. The club holds raffles occasionally for fundraising, and I bought $10 worth of tickets... and won this piece! Edited June 28, 2015 by DinoMike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foshunter Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I lived in Florida for 15 years and was a member of the Tampa Bay Fossil Club. They have a Fossil Fair once a year in May, if anyone is in the area it is an awesome show and sale, RECOMMEND. TBFC has a web site with show date. The megs you found are nice, just to bad that for insurance purposes the mines won't even allow club's to hunt anymore. Kinda a shame that all these beautiful teeth are being destroyed by equipment guess that is why complete teeth are now demanding such high prices------Tom Grow Old Kicking And Screaming !!"Don't Tread On Me" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoMike Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 I lived in Florida for 15 years and was a member of the Tampa Bay Fossil Club. They have a Fossil Fair once a year in May, if anyone is in the area it is an awesome show and sale, RECOMMEND. TBFC has a web site with show date. The megs you found are nice, just to bad that for insurance purposes the mines won't even allow club's to hunt anymore. Kinda a shame that all these beautiful teeth are being destroyed by equipment guess that is why complete teeth are now demanding such high prices------Tom I second your recommendation for anyone to attend the TBFC's Fossil Fair! I could get anything I needed there, supply-wise. Butvar, screens for the river, reference books... and the FOSSILS on display were AMAZING! Right now I'm eagerly awaiting October, so I can check out Dallas Paleo's Fossilmania! Yeah, the phosphate mines kinda dried up, except for the lucky few that "knew somebody who knows somebody." Even the closed mine that I went to became off-limits for a while. After Cargill merged with IMC & formed Mosaic, they stopped letting fossil clubs in. I hear they've started allowing clubs back to hunt in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Hey guys, nice finds Mike. Yep the Tampa Bay club is a good one. They usually have some type of raffle material every meeting to win and have a small collection of books on collecting and some other collecting odds/ends available for purchase. There is a ton of stuff for you to buy if you make it to the annual Fossil Fest in the spring. I did make it with the club to the Mosaic Bowling Green site last October--they have been letting in small groups in periodically....there is indeed a good deal of crunched up stuff but a number of small keepers and every once in awhile something larger. Hoping they allow us back in the fall/spring. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocafossil Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 The Tampa Bay Fossil Fest is one of the best, But it is usually in March, not May. Info is available online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam28 Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Nice megs. I found one very similar to the top right one on the first pic earlier this year with the tampa fossil club, also a mine near fort meade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoMike Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 I'm glad that phosphate mine hunting of a sort is open to clubs again. I'd love to be able to go back & look for more megs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Nice finds, if I worked in one of those mines I wouldn't get much work done! Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sseth Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 What some great teeth. Thanks for sharing. _____________________________________ Seth www.fossilshack.com www.americanfossil.com www.fishdig.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now