Rowboater Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Returned to the US after six months and headed to some favored spots for shark tooth hunting. Unfortunately everything was silted/sanded over. While I picked up some "whale bone" unearthed and left behind by others, shark teeth were in short supply and very small. Are these small teeth just small specimens of the larger ones, or are some different species? The serrations unfortunately don't show up well on my scanned pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 I've never heard of fossils on the rappahannock, now I'll have to go find some! You have a few different species some I recognize and some I don't, do you know the age or formation these teeth come from? I'll also start the IDing by saying you've got yourself a few nice threshers in there and maybe a meg. And some GW shark teeth, as well as some Carcharodon hastilis. Nice finds! “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 55 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said: I've never heard of fossils on the rappahannock, now I'll have to go find some! I wouldn’t recommend collecting along the Rappahannock River without a boat unless you are very familiar with the river and the tides/winds for the day. The river because it is so narrow in lots of places can have wild water height changes in short periods of time with tide and wind changes. Also there are areas along the river in King George County where the areas by the cliffs are extremely mucky and you can sink pretty deep walking in the mud. A lot of the good fossil hunting areas are usually under water in the Spring/Summer with the southerly winds and higher water. Also the Virginia marine police have a boat on the river. In Virginia landowners own to the mean low tide so if you are on the beach you are usually trespassing. The good fossil areas are all private property. There are a lot of cranky land owners along the beach who call in the marine police. If you are caught digging in the cliffs without landowner permission you will be arrested. A lot of the property in the better fossil collecting areas is owned by different hunting clubs. They really get upset in water fowl season when fossil hunters mess up their hunting by scaring the ducks/geese and that is the time of year when the river is usually much lower from the northerly winds. I live minutes from the river, have a boat, have landowner permission and I collect it rarely only certain times of year and with blowout tides. Marco Sr. 3 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 39 minutes ago, MarcoSr said: I wouldn’t recommend collecting along the Rappahannock River without a boat unless you are very familiar with the river and the tides/winds for the day. The river because it is so narrow in lots of places can have wild water height changes in short periods of time with tide and wind changes. Also there are areas along the river in King George County where the areas by the cliffs are extremely mucky and you can sink pretty deep walking in the mud. A lot of the good fossil hunting areas are usually under water in the Spring/Summer with the southerly winds and higher water. Also the Virginia marine police have a boat on the river. In Virginia landowners own to the mean low tide so if you are on the beach you are usually trespassing. The good fossil areas are all private property. There are a lot of cranky land owners along the beach who call in the marine police. If you are caught digging in the cliffs without landowner permission you will be arrested. A lot of the property in the better fossil collecting areas is owned by different hunting clubs. They really get upset in water fowl season when fossil hunters mess up their hunting by scaring the ducks/geese and that is the time of year when the river is usually much lower from the northerly winds. I live minutes from the river, have a boat, have landowner permission and I collect it rarely only certain times of year and with blowout tides. Marco Sr. I was joking around about there, the rappahannock is a ways from me but it's still good to know those things so thank you! “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 3 hours ago, WhodamanHD said: I was joking around about there, the rappahannock is a ways from me but it's still good to know those things so thank you! I've been collecting for over 45 years and have had a large number of good trips to lots of sites. However I've had some memorable bad trips to the Rappahannock River. Twice we were interrogated by VA marine police digging out specimens for landowners. One time was a real bummer as we were fighting the rising water to get a specimen out before it was damaged by the rising water. Once you start to expose something you have to get it jacketed to avoid damage and get it out. We were held up for almost two hours (they completely stopped us) before we could get the landowner to vouch for us. The landowner had previously asked them to watch his cliff area because he had a number of folks digging in it illegally. I had two other really bad experiences before I got my boat and before I used the CBOFS for water heights and winds. One time in King George I got stuck in mud up to my thighs when walking in shallow water. There had been fresh cliff slides and the entire area was soft and unstable a good ways out into the water. I don't know if that has ever happened to you before, but the loose clay/sand creates a strong vacuum and it is almost impossible to pull your legs out. If two nearby kayakers hadn't seen and helped me I'm not sure things would have ended well. Another time I continued down river at another area on the Rappahannock when the wind blowing really hard shifted directions to upriver. I wanted to get to a specific cliff and should have turned around but didn't. By the time I got to the good area it was already under several feet of water and I couldn't see anything in the water because of the wind. The last mile or so on my walk back I was in rising water around chest level. It was very difficult to walk as there was a strong river current. I almost tossed my backpack so I could swim back but I had a number of things in it that I didn't want to lose. The upper part of the river can have really strong deceptive currents and you read often of swimmers having to be rescued. These events are probably why I don't collect the Rappahannock much now even though I know the river and the river conditions pretty well. A lot of times the river is tranquil and a very nice place to be. But it is a river that you really need to respect and be weary of, that is why I responded to your post. Marco Sr. 3 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 22 minutes ago, MarcoSr said: But it is a river that you really need to respect and be weary of, that is why I responded to your post. And I thank you for that! Water is a powerful force, and not one to be taken lightly. I'm always cautious even in smaller rivers (I never go to one alone to fossil hunt) like the Monocacy. I also know the feeling of being stuck in sediment like that, I've had to be pulled out on one occasion by a friend. Thanks! “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 1 hour ago, WhodamanHD said: And I thank you for that! Water is a powerful force, and not one to be taken lightly. I'm always cautious even in smaller rivers (I never go to one alone to fossil hunt) like the Monocacy. I also know the feeling of being stuck in sediment like that, I've had to be pulled out on one occasion by a friend. Thanks! Unfortunately most of my fossil hunting misadventures were caused by my dumb decisions. I agree that you should fossil hunt with others for lots of reasons. However for years I fossil hunted alone. It was my way to get peace and quiet, release stress and to escape all of the things that were bothering me. Finding fossils were just an added bonus. Marco Sr. 1 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted October 17, 2017 Author Share Posted October 17, 2017 I agree you don't want to antagonize land owners, whose property is eroding anyway, by digging into their cliffs. Several spots that I hunted years ago are now covered with rip-rap and you rarely find teeth there now. I'm generally content to dig down on beaches or in creek beds rather than into cliffs; may not find as much but many spots still have lots of small teeth and occasionally interesting fossils. Today I was lucky to find a couple of relatively big cowshark teeth with roots (which are rare where I hunt). Mostly little stuff again but it's about the hunt more than the finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMP Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 On 10/15/2017 at 4:51 PM, MarcoSr said: But it is a river that you really need to respect and be weary of, that is why I responded to your post. I guess you could say, "Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve, for Rappahannock is a hard road to travel" (Civil War reference). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 More micro teeth. Also scanned other stuff that has the same shiny black sheen, many ray teeth, some small bones, a few vertebra, indeterminate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Also some very nice finds, I like the croc bone! “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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