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Hello fellow fossil hunters,

 

After one month, sorry for the delay, here it finally is: my trip report of the fossil hunting in Cape Town, South Africa!

 

First off, I just wanna say this: before my trip to SA, I asked here whether it was possible to hunt there. Everyone said that SA had strict laws on fossil hunting, and that I would have no chance there. Obviously I was disappointed, yet also confused, because on Fossiel.NET (Dutch version of TFF), there were two locations with lots of info about them in SA, and they didn't say anything about the law. After that, on Instagram, I met a guy that lived in Cape Town, and his posts were those of fossils he had found there! So I sent him a message asking about the rules, and he said the following: fossil extraction/digging is forbidden, but if the fossils are found in loose sediment, you are allowed to pick them up. Which was great news, because this meant I could hunt at Milnerton!

 

Now, to the report.

As we arrived in the parking, we saw the big sandy beach stretching out. As we got onto it, we could barely see 20 meters in front of us. Then the fog cleared up slightly, giving us a better view of the beach.

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We then met a lady who was also hunting for sharkteeth, and she gave me some tips for searching. As we continued our walk on the beach, after about an hour of having found nothing except for a few modern seashells, we arrived at the lighthouse.

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We got up close to the lighthouse and noticed some people sitting there, with a towel in front of them. We went over to see what they were selling, and, of course, there were sharkteeth! Extinct giant whites (mako's) and great whites, many complete and in good condition. They also made necklaces out of the teeth that were less well preserved. So we bought 3 sharkteeth from them, and also got a small necklace for free, all that for only 120 ZAR (more or less 8 USD)!

They were extremely nice with us, and gave us many more tips for finding fossils, as we had explained that we also love to find them personally. 

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Thanks to their very helpful tips, we soon found some teeth too! 

And we also found some pieces of bone, very similar to those I find on the Zandmotor, my usual hunting spot in the Netherlands.

Finally, towards the end, I even found a big whale vert!

 

All in all it was an amazing day, and the weird weather made it a unique experience.

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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Here's the total fossil haul of the day:

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  • 3 small piece of indet. bones
  • one small part of a whale vertebra
  • one big whale vertebra
  • one very worn extinct giant white (Carcharodon hastalis)
  • one incomplete great white (Carcharodon carcharias)
  • 3 bought sharkteeth (2 great whites and one giant white)

A closeup on the whale vert:

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The two sharkteeth we found, with some killer serrations on the great white:

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Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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Some pieces of mammal bone: By the way, do you know what the possibilities are concerning what animal they come from? I'm thinking sirenian for the moment, because the fossils of Cape Town seem to be mostly marine deposits.

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A small part of a whale vert:

 

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And finally the three sharkteeth we bought:

 

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That's it, thanks for reading the report!

I hope you enjoyed it!

 

Best regards,

 

Max

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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Nice finds Max! Congratulations :fistbump:

Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils :)

Regards Sebastian

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Very Nice Max. The teeth look like some of the teeth that come out of some of the deposits here in North Carolina. To bad you didn't find a modern great white tooth. I wonder if they occasionaly find them on the beach there.

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

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51 minutes ago, Trevor said:

Awesome finds!

 

7 minutes ago, belemniten said:

Nice finds Max! Congratulations :fistbump:

Thanks guys! :ighappy:

5 minutes ago, sixgill pete said:

Very Nice Max. The teeth look like some of the teeth that come out of some of the deposits here in North Carolina. To bad you didn't find a modern great white tooth. I wonder if they occasionaly find them on the beach there.

Thanks! 

It is true that we are in great white area! But I don't know if the teeth often wash up...

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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Cool report. Thanks for sharing.

 

Luck is the most important skill of a fossil diver.

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10 hours ago, Yvie said:

Thanks for showing us your finds and report.

 

 Yvie

 

7 hours ago, mrieder79 said:

Cool report. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

4 hours ago, ynot said:

Hey Max,

Glad to hear that You got to hunt and keep what You found, and nice finds too!:dinothumb:

Thanks a lot everyone! :D

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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@Max-fossils you should have picked up some great whites for me! :D Had I known you were going I would have tossed a few coins at you. :ighappy:

Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

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Just now, Fossil-Hound said:

@Max-fossils you should have picked up some great whites for me! :D Had I known you were going I would have tossed a few coins at you. :ighappy:

:rofl:

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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