Heading to Peace River on Tuesday ?

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Hello everyone .... I'm gonna try to head down to the Peace River from the Tampa area on Tuesday of this week. I've got my shortie wetsuit because I know it can get nippy ? .. and that's about it. I'll have to grab a shovel and maybe build a screen. I'll need a permit I have been told. I also have been seeing the weather lately and we have had some knarly storms pass through the south-east and I'm assuming the river levels will be high.

Is there anywhere in particular I need to put in .. ? I'm not looking for an Indiana Jones adventure, just a nice relaxing wriggle in the mud. Not really looking for trophies either, it's my first time there so it'll be as much an information gathering trip as anything. I have a shortie, some basic fins/snorkel/mask.

If there is anyone in the area that can give me any tips I would appreciate it.

In full disclosure I have a rare window away from the kids and the missus so I'm making a beeline for what I think might be a fun little hunt.

Keep it Classy,

Brett

[digit]

If there is anyone in the area that can give me any tips I would appreciate it.

In full disclosure I have a rare window away from the kids and the missus so I'm making a beeline for what I think might be a fun little hunt.

Here's a tip--stay away from the Peace River!

Sorry to say but this is definitely not the time to be going to the Peace. At the moment the Peace is around 12 feet too deep to get to any of the gravel bars. The current is fast and the water is murky and dangerous. Unless you want to extend that window away from the kids and the missus permanently you'll need to find another fossil hunting activity down in the Tampa area.

Summer is really not the proper time to be hitting the Peace River. it is true that a shortie wetsuit can sometimes be useful on the river but that is during the relatively chilly months of Jan-Feb. The water is well warm enough now not to need exposure protection but you wouldn't want to be setting foot in the Peace at the moment. Canoe Outpost won't even allow kids under 12 in their rental canoes this time of year. Sorry, but your timing is off for a trip like this.

There is always poking around in the surf at Caspersen Beach down in Venice or maybe that big pile of fossil shell material may still be there up in Bradenton Beach. If you are scuba certified there is always the option of going out on the dive boat to go hunt for fossils in the bone bed offshore--just google "Venice shark tooth diving" for more information on that.

Plan a trip down here in the dry season and the South Florida TFF members will make sure you have a fun time in the Peace River when it is safe to do so. Give up on any ideas of going to the Peace this week though--not even the craziest of Florida fossil hunters would be attempting it now.

Cheers.

-Ken

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Here's a tip--stay away from the Peace River!

Sorry to say but this is definitely not the time to be going to the Peace. At the moment the Peace is around 12 feet too deep to get to any of the gravel bars. The current is fast and the water is murky and dangerous. Unless you want to extend that window away from the kids and the missus permanently you'll need to find another fossil hunting activity down in the Tampa area.

Summer is really not the proper time to be hitting the Peace River. it is true that a shortie wetsuit can sometimes be useful on the river but that is during the relatively chilly months of Jan-Feb. The water is well warm enough now not to need exposure protection but you wouldn't want to be setting foot in the Peace at the moment. Canoe Outpost won't even allow kids under 12 in their rental canoes this time of year. Sorry, but your timing is off for a trip like this.

There is always poking around in the surf at Caspersen Beach down in Venice or maybe that big pile of fossil shell material may still be there up in Bradenton Beach. If you are scuba certified there is always the option of going out on the dive boat to go hunt for fossils in the bone bed offshore--just google "Venice shark tooth diving" for more information on that.

Plan a trip down here in the dry season and the South Florida TFF members will make sure you have a fun time in the Peace River when it is safe to do so. Give up on any ideas of going to the Peace this week though--not even the craziest of Florida fossil hunters would be attempting it now.

Cheers.

-Ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the info I'm still new to the South Florida landscape ... I'll stay away from the beaches on this trip but I'll find something to keep me busy. Appreciate it.

Cheers,

Brett

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Hello Everyone,

Back from my road trip from Savannah to Gulf Shores to High Springs to Tampa to Savannah to Atlanta to Savannah .... phew !

Ok, so instead of sitting in the heat, fighting for parking and frolicking with the beach goers, I decided instead to hang out with the mosquitoes. Let me tell you it was much quieter and a much more rewarding experience. haha.

I went instead out to Gainsville, FL which was closer to me anyway. I did however whip up a new screen (my first) the night before. Lugging that around was fun and on this trip completely useless apparently. Huzzah ! ... all of my finds were sitting right on the surface.

Found some bones ... what I think is a small whale vert, a rib, and various small parts and pieces. A turtle scute is in there.

The sharks teeth were fun .. nice preservation with some different color, the Mako tooth (?) was cool. A first complete one for me. It was well worn by the water. The broken Hemi-s were a disappointment. Sigh. Nothing too crazy.

The broken root ... is that possibly a White Shark ? It was/is about the same size as the Mako but the root has a sharper bite.

And then there was the hunting outside of Atlanta of a different kind ... guy outside of town has a small mineral shop ( i opine the death of the brick and mortar rock shop). So me and my dad, having teamed up again like the dynamic duo, descended upon his establishment. He has a claim out in Piedmont GA for Amethyst, but his side hobby is fossil collecting and I picked up (I hunted for it I swear) a collection of teeth from Macon, GA. (That's what the tag said) Regardless, the preservation of these teeth is outstanding.

Cheers,

Brett

PS. Thanks again Ken .. I'll probably head to both the peace and the beach in the Winter .....

[jcbshark]

Nice finds, I'd say that partial is either a GW or a Meg. That Mako is sweeeeeet: )

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Nice finds, I'd say that partial is either a GW or a Meg. That Mako is sweeeeeet: )

Thanks JC,

It was fun ... even the mosquitoes buzzing in my ear sounded almost melodic after a time. haha. A Meg is what I was hoping but we may never know, a partial though ! If that might be true then I'm getting closer..... or not.

You inspire us all and I'm diggin' the quote. "Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!" Of course a gator down there wouldn't be fun either. (:=

Cheers,

Brett

[digit]

Good to see you made it down and had fun in the creeks in Gainesville. I don't know if you had time to visit the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) while you were down but that is always a worthwhile stop when you are in the area. Great displays of shark teeth as well as articulated specimens of many of the species we find scant traces of while sifting the Peace River (or other locations around Florida). The other suggestion if you make it back to Gainesville is to take a square piece of window screen mesh and set it into the sifter you made with the 1/2" mesh and place the (larger) sifter with the 1/4" mesh above that. Shovel in some creek gravel and then sift it out in some water. The creek was so low when I was there that I had to use a bucket to scoop water into the sifters to flush through the gravel. The stacked sifters will catch the larger gravel and let the sand pass through resulting in some graded micro-matrix in the lower sifter. Take this home and dry it out. Once it is dry more sand will be able to be removed so sift again over window screen mesh to clean it up. Then you can scoop out a cup of the micro-matrix and use a paper plate to spread out a spoonful of matrix on to the plate. Pick through this with a dental probe (or a toothpick)--magnification and a bright light helps. You'll be amazed at the tiny shark teeth (and other fossils) you can find in the micro-matrix--it's a whole other world of fossil hunting.

Cheers.

-Ken

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Good to see you made it down and had fun in the creeks in Gainesville. I don't know if you had time to visit the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) while you were down but that is always a worthwhile stop when you are in the area. Great displays of shark teeth as well as articulated specimens of many of the species we find scant traces of while sifting the Peace River (or other locations around Florida). The other suggestion if you make it back to Gainesville is to take a square piece of window screen mesh and set it into the sifter you made with the 1/2" mesh and place the (larger) sifter with the 1/4" mesh above that. Shovel in some creek gravel and then sift it out in some water. The creek was so low when I was there that I had to use a bucket to scoop water into the sifters to flush through the gravel. The stacked sifters will catch the larger gravel and let the sand pass through resulting in some graded micro-matrix in the lower sifter. Take this home and dry it out. Once it is dry more sand will be able to be removed so sift again over window screen mesh to clean it up. Then you can scoop out a cup of the micro-matrix and use a paper plate to spread out a spoonful of matrix on to the plate. Pick through this with a dental probe (or a toothpick)--magnification and a bright light helps. You'll be amazed at the tiny shark teeth (and other fossils) you can find in the micro-matrix--it's a whole other world of fossil hunting.

Cheers.

-Ken

Thanks Ken,

I've been itching to try the micro-fossils since I'm not overflowing with indoor work-space at home. One of these days i'll get back to a place where I can have a compressor and let the fun really begin but that seems like a lifetime away at the moment, for now I'll just stare at RB and his various projects. haha Hobby plan B as it were.

Next time I'm in town I'll try sifting the matrix down ...... I thank you again for all of the help and advice, my hunting trips are short and sporadic but having a group like this to help identify and discuss the who/what/how old makes the whole experience that much more fulfilling.

Cheers,

Brett

[mrieder79]

Whoo-hoo! That mako is great! What a find. Bet you were excited about that one! Glad you had a good time.

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Whoo-hoo! That mako is great! What a find. Bet you were excited about that one! Glad you had a good time.

It was fun .. yes the Mako was great ... my previous Mako was only an interior and root (no replaced enamel remained) from the Calvert Cliffs.

Cheers,

B

[Khyssa]

Gainesville is an interesting place to hunt, you never know what might turn up. Looks like you did pretty good, that's a great looking mako! It is possible to find intact megs there, I've found 2 very small ones, one of which was a posterior tooth as well as a few moderate sized partials. One of my favorite things about hunting in Gainesville is the wide range of colors the teeth have. Ken's suggestion for the matrix is a real good one. My three best nurse shark teeth were found while sorting matrix from there.

Kara

[mrieder79]

Not sure if it was real, but a few months back I remember seeing a pic of a 5 1/4" meg that came out of Gainesville. That's huge for the area, if it's not a hoax.