Khyssa Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Saturday was the meeting for the Tampa Bay Fossil club and I decided to head down early to get in a little beach combing since it's an hour and a half drive from my house. The beach I usually go to to find coral had been under construction for over a year while they were working on shoring up sections of the beach. That had involved them hauling in loads of limestone from who knows where to deal with erosion. Among all of that limestone was chunks of fossil coral which is what I was hoping to find. The problem is that I hadn't been to this spot since late spring and had heard that pickings were pretty slim now. Once I got there I quickly realized that they had actually extended the beach further out into the Gulf and all of the coral laden rock was buried underneath all the new sand. There was hardly any rock in site. Since I was already there I decided to take a walk down the deach with a bucket anyway to see what I could find. If nothing else I was hoping to find some nice shells to make the trip worth while. Sadly, most of the shells I found were clams and scallops of which I have plenty already. In the past I'd always found the best shells among the rocks lining the beach. As I made my way further down the beach I noticed piles of shells that had been washed up into the scrub lining the back of the beach. As I dug through the piles looking for interesting shells I started finding small chunks of rock, a few of whick had some shell impressions and hints of coral. Nothing worth hauling back to the car though. The further down the beach the more rocks I found and then I found a spot where it was possible to walk back into the scrub and that's where I started finding much more rock. Still not much in the way of coral though. I was just about to give up when I found the first decent piece of coral of the day. It looked to be part of a coral head and even though it was badly worn it was still nice enough to go into the bucket with my shells. Shortly after that I found a rock that was half limestone and half chert that was loading with imprints of coral branches which I walso kept. I was running out of time at the beach as I had another stop I needed to make before the meeting but decided to check a few more shell piles before making the trek back to the car. That's when I made my best find of the day! Laying out in the open just waiting to be picked up was a rock that was part limestone and part chert that was full of coral branches, many of which were at least partially agatized. Finding that made the trip for me! I looked around for about a half hour more but didn't find anything else worthwhile before making the hike back to the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyssa Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 (edited) Here's some pictures of the piece with all of the coral branches. I counted about two dozen of them. Edited December 14, 2015 by Khyssa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Cool find! Beach combing can be so fun and the neat things that can be found are amazing!! Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Nice finds, congrats : ) at least even if you don't find the mother load we have beautiful scenery around here 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...
rmcallister Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I was there on Saturday as well! I hadn't been in a few months and was sad to see how much they had covered. However, I was not disappointed! I ended my day with a few of the best pieces I've ever found there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Khyssa, THX for taking us in your pocket and sharing your trip with us. Nice finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoWilliam Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Nice finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyssa Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 I was there on Saturday as well! I hadn't been in a few months and was sad to see how much they had covered. However, I was not disappointed! I ended my day with a few of the best pieces I've ever found there. Yes, I was sad to see that they had covered all of that rock up. I didn't go too far up the beach so I couldn't tell if they covered the rocks that were further from the parking lot as well. If I'm remembering correctly there were some fairly rocky spots further out. How far north did you go? The last piece of coral I found is one of the better ones I have from that spot. I'll have to go back if it ever cools down some more to see what else is still there to be found. Care to share some pictures of what you found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyssa Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 Nice finds, congrats : ) at least even if you don't find the mother load we have beautiful scenery around here Thank you. It was a great day although a bit too warm for the middle of December! I forgot my phone in the car or I would have taken some pictures of the scenery. At the very least I got out of the house and enjoyed walking the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcallister Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 (edited) Yes, I was sad to see that they had covered all of that rock up. I didn't go too far up the beach so I couldn't tell if they covered the rocks that were further from the parking lot as well. If I'm remembering correctly there were some fairly rocky spots further out. How far north did you go? The last piece of coral I found is one of the better ones I have from that spot. I'll have to go back if it ever cools down some more to see what else is still there to be found. Care to share some pictures of what you found? I ended up all the way to the end of the beach, I was just walking and looking and didn't even realize. I planned to be back home at 4....I didn't even leave until 4 since I had the nice walk back. I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow to post. All the rocks were covered with sand, although a few spots have already started to erode and the rocks are peeking out. Edited December 15, 2015 by rmcallister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyssa Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 I've done that before as you never know, a really good find might be just a few more feet down the beach! A couple times I didn't end up leaving until sunset. If some of the rocks are already starting to peek out then one or two good storms should expose quite a few of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcallister Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) Alright Khyssa here are some pictures! Grid is 1"x1" for measurement. All I have is my phone so not the best quality. Edited December 16, 2015 by rmcallister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyssa Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 I use my phone for all my pictures too. Nice finds, I particularly like that shell inprint. I think that is the most intact and largest inprint I've seen from that place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcallister Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Thank you! I am very happy with that find. I wish the picture did it justice, as there is crystallization in the crevasses (calcite?) . I believe the park is open for Christmas so I may just spend the day down there (unless I am forced by the hubs into going fishing in Yankeetown, in which case I'll still be able to hunt!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronto Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 One from the cloudy state of Texas. Associated with Rudistids, Mosasaur, Baculites, Various Shark, Encodus, etc.: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyssa Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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