Westmoreland State Park 6-25-17

[Bronco5150]

Headed out yesterday to Westmoreland State Park for my 2nd ever collecting trip. Arrived about 30 minutes before high tide and found (for a beginner, anyway!) a pretty nice haul of teeth. The park itself was gorgeous and I'm already itching to head back out there.

 

 

 

Favorite finds of the trip are definitely the nice sized Mako at bottom (I think it's a Mako anyway) as well as the croc tooth. That one definitely surprised me when I saw it in the sifter!! A few decent tigers as well.

 

best,

Bronco

[Darktooth]

Nice haul! Yes that is a nice mako! Glad you took my advice about Westmoreland.

[ynot]

Nice finds!

The powers that be moved hastalis from Isurus (mako) to Carcharodon (white shark)

[Bronco5150]

3 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Nice haul! Yes that is a nice mako! Glad you took my advice about Westmoreland.

 

I totally forgot to mention that in the thread I made! Thank you!! Looks like I have my new go-to spot!!

[Bronco5150]

3 hours ago, ynot said:

Nice finds!

The powers that be moved hastalis from Isurus (mako) to Carcharodon (white shark)

Oh wow that's very interesting!! How does one differentiate between a typical short fin mako fossil and the hastalis? They seem SUPER similar to my amateur eyes.

[gavialboy]

Congrats on the great finds

 

[ynot]

1 hour ago, Bronco5150 said:

Oh wow that's very interesting!! How does one differentiate between a typical short fin mako fossil and the hastalis? They seem SUPER similar to my amateur eyes.

Good question, maybe @Al Dente or @siteseer can answer it.

[SailingAlongToo]

@Bronco5150

Nice haul. That's pretty good for summer time with so many people there.

 

You found all of those right around that tiny Fossil Beach (Or in the water just off shore?)

[Bronco5150]

2 hours ago, SailingAlongToo said:

@Bronco5150

Nice haul. That's pretty good for summer time with so many people there.

 

You found all of those right around that tiny Fossil Beach (Or in the water just off shore?)

 

Yep! Just sifted along the tide line for about 2.5-3 hours

[mrieder79]

3 hours ago, Bronco5150 said:

Oh wow that's very interesting!! How does one differentiate between a typical short fin mako fossil and the hastalis? They seem SUPER similar to my amateur eyes.

 

Hastalis upper are broader than oxyrinchus with heftier roots that lack oxyrinchus' half-moon shape.  They are also generally larger and more robust. Hastalis lowers are more similar to oxyrinchus, but still have more heft to them. An oxyrinchus lower can almost be mistaken for a sand tiger without the cusps.

 

[SailingAlongToo]

Cheers

[mrieder79]

Not the best hastalis pics, but enough to communicate the idea. 

[mrieder79]

14 minutes ago, SailingAlongToo said:

Cool. Maybe we will run into each other there sometime. If you see a big, green John boat with a black bimini top cruising around, that's us. Wave us down. Ill come say hi & show you the cliffs from 300 yrds out. Awesome view of stratigraphy layers.

 

We run fossil trips at Statford Hall & do beach patrol for them and WSP, trying to keep the trespassers / fossil poachers collecting under the cliffs at bay. The trespassers / poachers have majorly damaged several scientificly important finds recently, before they could be recovered. 

 

 2 of them got caught under the cliffs At WSP after being told NO Trespassing, & ended up in handcuffs. 

 

Cheers!

Are all the state parks in MD and VA closed to fossil hunting, or just some of them, or just parts of them?

 

[SailingAlongToo]

26 minutes ago, mrieder79 said:

Are all the state parks in MD and VA closed to fossil hunting, or just some of them, or just parts of them?

 

 

In VA you can collect on the beach in public areas only at Westmoreland, York River and Chippokes. Digging in the cliffs is a BIG no no and dangerous.

At Westmoreland,  there are No Trespassing signs up at each end of the cliffs. Anyone under the cliffs is trespassing, with signage in place which makes it worse legally.

[Boneheadz]

When you get down on to Fossil Beach at Westmoreland, taking a left is also trespassing. You have to stay in between the trail and the cliffs to the right. Its been a while since I've been down there so it may have changed, but also the last time i went i was informed that taking a left along that stretch of beach is trespassing. Great finds BTW, I love that park and the teeth it produces.

[SailingAlongToo]

20 hours ago, Boneheadz said:

When you get down on to Fossil Beach at Westmoreland, taking a left is also trespassing. You have to stay in between the trail and the cliffs to the right. Its been a while since I've been down there so it may have changed, but also the last time i went i was informed that taking a left along that stretch of beach is trespassing. Great finds BTW, I love that park and the teeth it produces.

 

Hey Boneheadz! How's it going?

 

You are correct, at WSP, walking / hunting / collecting anywhere under the cliffs is trespassing. The only place the public is allowed to walk / collect is the small beach section known as Fossil Beach. Of course, they could walk the beach in front of the pool but there is only 1 extremely tiny section of cliff immediately upstream of the boat ramp. Not very much gets found in front of the pool, though.

[Ropterus]

Congratulations on the finds! Really like that Mako! Hoping to make it there myself someday.