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The Adventures of a Cliff Hunter!


Williamb55

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Hello All! As you can see by the title of my post and the plethora of pictures to follow, I have been quite busy... busy fossil hunting that is! Since New Years I have been averaging at least one trip per weekend which is a good fix to distract myself from the less-than admirable weather (I just want spring!!!!!). This whole week is off for me since I'm off on Spring Break and that means I can go out hunting during the week to avoid the crowds which is always pleasant to get the beach to yourself. Also with the turn of the season and somewhat "warm" weather we have had I was able to launch my kayak for the first time this season this past weekend and I hope to make good use of my kayak. If any other members would like to hunt sometime feel free to message me (also anyone who wants to take me out on their boat I would take that offer too! :P) I'll post a thread of my recent trips along with my more favorite finds and some fossil ID help.

 

I'd also like to add that I have successfully taken over our family dining room and turned it into my own private fossil collection :D (sorry mom) and I love how it shows the true variety of teeth you can find as well as the differences in locations and the fauna you can find. The paper towels are all from recent trips and the plates are all from previous trips to Stratford Hall which I divided into plates for each different species.

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Edited by Williamb55
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Really interested in that top left plate creme Meg!  Looks an awful lot like the one I have from Summerville. Can we get a close-up for our viewing pleasure? :meg:

Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

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Some very nice finds indeed! Are any from Calvert County, MD cliffs? Me and @HoppeHunting hope to get some kayaking in the summer, perhaps we could also arrange some trips with you. Seems the next gen of Cliff Hunters has started its reign!:D

“...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

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The Great Wind of 2018

 

Earlier this month we had a large front come through the East Coast and it brought a LOT of NW wind with it as well. I know what you're all thinking, any collector in the Calvert Cliffs area drools when they hear sustained NW winds of 20+ with gusts of 45+. I felt the same way when I heard this news and I was excited for the opportunity to experience a large blowout at the cliffs. Even though I'm 17 and naive, I figured it would be safe to wait until Saturday to collect at the cliffs when the gusts weren't so strong and the roads were clear (my mom appreciated my wishful thinking). So I woke that Saturday at a time that I would still consider to be "late night" :hearty-laugh:(may have been around 3:30 in my excitement) and drove from VA to the all-so-popular Bayfront Park. Unfortunately, there was a large tree blocking the road only 100 yards from the parking lot so I had to go on a 5 mile detour to get around them. Seeing this sign of destruction I knew I made the right choice to sit out for a day. I walked down to the beach with my flashlight and waders and then I noticed something odd. I've been to Brownies Beach at a low-tide when the sand bar is exposed and the waves are maybe 50 feet away from the cliffs, but today the waves were crashing not 1, or even 3, but the waves were crashing with nearly 5 sandbars between them and the cliffs, and this was at peak high tide. With the entire beach high and dry I was dying to see what I was going to find, but sadly I saw that the waves in fact had not returned since even the day prior (the winds kept the water out of the bay for almost 3 days) and there were footprints EVERYWHERE. I walked up and down the beach and eventually discovered the only way I would find teeth this day was on my hands and knees. So I found a nice gravel area and began scanning for any tooth I could find. With little success and not much spirit left from what I was dreaming the night before, I turned back and was about to give up when I looked underneath a tree at the very base of the cliffs and I found a nice tan Mako 1 1/4" which was a pleasant discovery because I found it where there were probably 20 other footprints. Overall the day was average, but my nicest find of the day would definitely be the dolphin vert I found washing between some boulders. My favorite part is that the vert is not even fossilized and in fact, came off of a modern animal, but it was odd to only find one. After a long soak in some peroxide I was able to remove the "river funk" and it cleaned into a nice pale-white color.IMG_2644.thumb.JPG.3786a7e7e836f412b49ca1c544c0eca5.JPG

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Casual Weekend at Bayfront Park - First Meg of the Year!!! - 3/17/2018

 

Another Saturday, another fossil adventure. This day I decided to go to Brownies Beach again, I was still in search of a nice Meg and I was feeling it. I woke up at a more reasonable hour since the forecast was calling for some rain and I didn't want to walk through the rain in the dark. To my expectations, there was no rain and the weather was beautiful this morning. I spent a good time taking pictures of the sunrise over the water and got a nice time-lapse of the sun rising. Previously in the week, a strong Nor-Easter hit the cliffs and when I started South on the beach I noticed a lot of new fall and a lot of clay on the beach. I was growing more and more disappointed as I realized what I thought was large gravel on the beach, was actually clay balls and dirt, and only a very small stretch of the beach actually had "huntable" sand and gravel where I could find teeth. On my walk out, I discovered my first cetacean ear bone piece and it's also in excellent condition. I walked back and forth just hoping for the waves to pop up and after kicking some sand in one spot for awhile I looked down and saw the most pristine Mako I have found from the cliffs. It truly shows how sometimes it's all about being in the right place at the right time. The blade is a beautiful blue color and the root is a nice tan and the tooth is UBER sharp aswell. Satisfied with my cetacean tooth, ear bone, and Mako I was about to leave when I decided I should give the beach one last run to the very end before I leave since only one other person was out there. I was glad I did, at the very end of the walk I couldn't believe my eyes. Although it isn't whole, it is my first Meg that I have found this year (I'm not counting the busted corner I found back in February) and it is just the blade. The blade is very sharp and nice, but it looks like this tooth broke a couple million years before I could find it but at least I was able to break the ice! I also wanted to include a picture of the variety in the colors of the teeth that I have found at Brownies Beach this year. It truly is amazing to see such variation all from one area. IMG_2641.thumb.JPG.a6e64222ce96d970c3a9ca50931f8a70.JPGIMG_2568.thumb.JPG.e9595c0ab9a85ca12322fbe3e4a35267.JPGIMG_2569.thumb.JPG.bb896644196d430ced67c584cb6d97af.JPGIMG_2557.thumb.JPG.28293766bf17329f3065de09bcaf103f.JPG

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1 hour ago, MeargleSchmeargl said:

Really interested in that top left plate creme Meg!  Looks an awful lot like the one I have from Summerville. Can we get a close-up for our viewing pleasure? :meg:

This was actually my first meg ever! I found it on a guided trip down at Stratford Hall while eating a sandwich. It roughly measure 3 1/4". IMG_2570.thumb.jpg.c56842ab8de0acbb3a9183ff352a4339.jpg5abc33a5565bc_IMG_2571(1).thumb.jpg.32908ff52855f429b9cd17b5f842928a.jpg

 

 

I posted the full story behind the tooth on my Member Introduction Post

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First Fossil Voyage of the Year! - 3/24/2018

 

First day of Spring Break and I wanted to do something more exciting than going to Brownies or Purse SP and the winds looked cooperative so I decided to head to a spot along the Potomac River that is boat-accessible only. As usual, the weather was not what it was predicted to be and the winds were blowing when we pulled up to the boat ramp. Determined, we launched anyways although now I realized that it probably wasn't the wisest plan since there were whitecaps in the middle of the river and 1-3' surf. Somehow we made it to the beach and tucked our kayaks up behind a fallen tree so the high tide couldn't take it and began out hunt. When we arrived at the beach it was high tide so it could only get better from what was available. Teeth were tumbling out of the surf left and right and I was able to score a nice Auriculatus 30 minutes in (even though it's beat up and worm smooth, I consider it a rare-find for VA/MD). My buddy with me was unfortunate enough to have his parents remove his waders from his car the previous night and he only had some tennis shoes to wear so he was stuck on the exposed beach while I could wade through the waves to reach other locations, so far the morning had consisted of a bunch of Fossil FAILS, but I knew the potential of this location. I continued on my trek up the beach and began to find some very nice Hemipristis teeth when I got to the mother load of gravel. There was so much gravel I had to make 3 passes to cover the entire beach since my buddy wasn't going to get to me anytime soon. I was crawling under a tree when I discovered what would've been my largest Desorai Mako tooth, but the root was busted and I was climbing out from under the tree I caught glimpse of the largest Hemi I had seen in my life. I was tucked waaaay back in a small cave formed from running water down the cliffs and it was posed in-situ for the camera. The tooth measures exactly 1 1/2" and is the largest one I have ever found! My trip was pretty much made when I found this tooth, but the gods had to please me once more and only 10 minutes later and I found a wicked sharp Desorai, tip and both roots!

 

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But WAIT!!!!!!!! My day wasn't over yet. I've been trying to keep this secret before the media finds out, but I discovered what I think is one of the most important finds of the century. I believe to have found an intact dinosaur pipe from millions of years ago. :hearty-laugh:Okay okay, I apologize for the tease. But this is definitely one of my favorite finds of my lifetime. I cant get over the googly-eye and how it looks up at you. My mother also got a good laugh when I showed her the pipe I had found. I has a load of river sediment and other dirt lodged in it but I cleaned it up as best as I can. I looks like it has definitely been in the river for a few decades. IMG_2627.thumb.JPG.746aff5b80785f4e6803ad2d7478a520.JPG

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Calm Day at Purse State Park

 

Whew, I've been hunting a lot of Miocene exposures lately and I wanted to switch things up so I drove down to Purse State Park for a relaxing evening hunt since low tide was at 3 PM on this day. I wasn't expecting much and was mainly looking to clear my mind, but this day was quite successful and I was able to check off a number of fossils on my wish-list. Nothing too spectacular, but I found my first Paleocarcharodon!!!!!!! I had been drooling to finally find one after hearing a lot about their specialty and got luck enough on my walk back. It isn't very sharp, in fact it's so worn that you almost can't see the serrations, but I love the character from the tooth and the color is unique since many of the teeth from this beach are just black. I was also lucky enough to find my first whole fish tooth plate with some teeth still in-tact! I forget the name of the species so if any of you would like to enlighten me I would be glad to know. No complete Otodus were found, but I still had a great day.IMG_2629.thumb.JPG.8c42b658bbe14d8ead25218937254fa7.JPGIMG_2623.thumb.JPG.e940ea7a3ba5187b498be12782aab8cc.JPGIMG_2624.thumb.JPG.14435eb750a891ef65d2e25f8ae26877.JPG

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Great haul of teeth! but for me, the gator pipe is the coolest. 

"Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs

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A True Hunt at the Cliffs - 3/27/2018

 

After seeing hundreds of posts and amazing teeth from other Calvert Cliff hunters from private beaches and sites, I was dying to get at some of the action that wasn't from a public beach. I planned to launch my kayak out of Breezy Point Marina and paddle south towards some pristine looking cliff exposures. The wind was very cooperative and the paddle out was very relaxing, I wished I brought a fishing pole with me, but I left it at home:doh!:. Eager, I paddled quickly to the beach to optimize my time hunting at low-tide since the tide was coming in shortly. The beach was nice and wide and the waves had built a very nice looking shell and gravel line and teeth were constantly being washed out. Never before had I been finding so many teeth at such a constant rate, by the end of the day I literally had an entire ziploc bag full of teeth. After realizing I was distracting myself with smaller teeth, I began my trek towards the lumbering cliffs ahead of me. I was half expecting a meg to fall into my hands since I had such high hopes. On my first walk I found my first and only meg of the trip, its so cute, but it sadly has the tip whacked off of it which is kinda ironic because the only other meg I have found this year is only the blade with no root. There were tons of fresh fall piles, but it looked like someone had come through and dug out a large section of material that I am assuming was from a whale skull, but you never know from the cliffs. While searching though some fallen blocks, I found some nice specimens of cetacean fossils. I need ID help with two of the large finds. I think one of them is an Atlas vertebrae from a cetacean, sadly the piece broke when I tried to pull it out and I didn't have the tools to extract the other remaining piece in the block, but I had enough of it that you can see it is intact! The other fossil was also found in a cliff fall, but was in many pieces when I discovered it. I seem to have misplaced one of the pieces, but it looks like a pelvis, or some sort of fossil similar so if anybody knows the ID feel free to tell me! I was also able to make some nice discoveries when I cleaned the bones... They had predation marks! I have always been wanting to find a bone with marks from the animal that preyed on it and two of the specimens have gashes in them which is super neat to me. I was also able to score my nicest cowshark tooth, but I'm still looking for that whole specimen (I have so many fragments it's driving me insane!!!). Overall it was my best trip of the season in terms of quantity and unique finds and I cannot wait to get back out there when the winds cooperate again. You can definitely see a difference in quality and quantity when comparing a public beach to an isolated beach. Still looking for my first whole meg of the year so if anyone could help me that would be great! It's disheartening to see people talk about "grinding" on the beach for fossils and "only finding one meg" when they only spent a few hours hunting while I was at the beach for almost 9 hours this day and walked well over 5 miles and didn't find a single tooth over 1 1/2". With this warm weekend ahead I hope that I can get out more in my kayak and maybe one of these days karma will come my way and I'll find a meg... or two :drool:IMG_2630.thumb.JPG.3e1474a6e51b9ee1c1e3e3bb5ae133f2.JPGIMG_2631.thumb.JPG.46f3ba6cafafa7d822a1e5b54fea93db.JPGIMG_2632.thumb.JPG.605c7b755bd9fee15421947cbff64bad.JPGIMG_2636.thumb.JPG.291a3ffe608b403bd92690882a7b6cda.JPGIMG_2634.thumb.JPG.2298f0a695e45d984a8eb35504e1aad6.JPGIMG_2635.thumb.JPG.bfef03d17d964b97a411e2550005ddde.JPG

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WOW! That was a lot of typing. Time to catch some rest. I have a great deal of fun posting on the Forum, I find it as a great way to clear my mind express myself. Catch me on the beach tomorrow morning!

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1 hour ago, WhodamanHD said:

Some very nice finds indeed! Are any from Calvert County, MD cliffs? Me and @HoppeHunting hope to get some kayaking in the summer, perhaps we could also arrange some trips with you. Seems the next gen of Cliff Hunters has started its reign!:D

Yes, most of my teeth in this thread are from Calvert County, MD. I would love to meet up someday! 

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On 3/28/2018 at 8:32 PM, Williamb55 said:

This was actually my first meg ever! I found it on a guided trip down at Stratford Hall while eating a sandwich. It roughly measure 3 1/4". 

I posted the full story behind the tooth on my Member Introduction Post

Your first meg really reminds me of my first from Summerville in July last year! Only differences being yours is a different color and mine is "1/2 smaller. This Meg is also my avatar! Really nice!

 

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IMG_20180328_230315.thumb.jpg.fcb0fea2df4814a7aa9531a1f77b14a4.jpg

Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

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On 3/28/2018 at 11:09 PM, MeargleSchmeargl said:

Your first meg really reminds me of my first from Summerville in July last year! Only differences being yours is a different color and mine is "1/2 smaller. This Meg is also my avatar! Really nice!

 

Nice tooth! The first one you find sure is a rush. Same with the second. And third. :ighappy:

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Very nice trip reports and gorgeous finds, hopefully I can make it to the states to look for some teeth one day ;)

 

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14 hours ago, Williamb55 said:

This whole week is off for me since I'm off on Spring Break and that means I can go out hunting during the week to avoid the crowds which is always pleasant to get the beach to yourself. Also with the turn of the season and somewhat "warm" weather we have had I was able to launch my kayak for the first time this season this past weekend and I hope to make good use of my kayak this year to get to the more isolated beaches. I have a 14' sea kayak which and it's very nice to have all the extra move for storage and to move around. If any other members who also paddle the cliffs would like to hunt sometime feel free to message me (also anyone who wants to take me out on their boat I would take that offer too!

 

If you are using your kayak to get to beaches in Virginia, to collect on the beaches, you are trespassing on private property unless you have property owner permission or unless there is an extreme water blowout and you stay below the mean low tide line on the beach which rarely happens except in the winter.  Virginia landowners own to the mean low tide line even on the Potomac River unlike Maryland landowners who own only to the mean high tide line.  The property in Virginia does not need to be posted to be trespassing.  Posting or warnings to the trespasser increase the criminal penalty for the trespassing crime.  Boaters and kayakers have been increasingly trespassing on Virginia beaches causing a number of landowners to start having them arrested.  The number of arrests on the Virginia side of the Potomac River in 2017 increased dramatically over years past.  I know of at least 5 convictions in 2017 for trespassing in Stratford Hall.  The rangers in Westmoreland State Park wrote double the trespassing citations in 2017 over 2016 for people collecting on the beaches under their cliffs which is not permitted except with a state permit.  Also posts like yours here on TFF and Facebook are being used as evidence of the trespassing in the Virginia cases.  So posting that you are using your kayak to get to Virginia beaches is not smart at all.  Encouraging others to join you in Virginia is not smart at all.  Collecting like you are doing by kayak in Virginia is causing numerous Virginia landowners and communities to push for laws banning all fossil collecting in Virginia without a state or federal permit or written land owner permission.  A lot of your post is about legal collecting.  You need to stick to that.

 

Marco Sr.

"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

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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14 hours ago, Williamb55 said:

Hello All! As you can see by the title of my post and the plethora of pictures to follow, I have been quite busy... busy fossil hunting that is! Since New Years I have been averaging at least one trip per weekend which is a good fix to distract myself from the less-than admirable weather (I just want spring!!!!!). This whole week is off for me since I'm off on Spring Break and that means I can go out hunting during the week to avoid the crowds which is always pleasant to get the beach to yourself. Also with the turn of the season and somewhat "warm" weather we have had I was able to launch my kayak for the first time this season this past weekend and I hope to make good use of my kayak this year to get to the more isolated beaches. I have a 14' sea kayak which and it's very nice to have all the extra move for storage and to move around. If any other members who also paddle the cliffs would like to hunt sometime feel free to message me (also anyone who wants to take me out on their boat I would take that offer too! :P) I

Like  @MarcoSr said, be careful about not trespassing. If you are going to go Kayaking, plan your trip carefully, and if it is private property, always ask permission! We'd hate for you to end up at the slammer for following your passion too aggressively.

Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

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50 minutes ago, MarcoSr said:

 

If you are using your kayak to get to beaches in Virginia, to collect on the beaches, you are trespassing on private property unless you have property owner permission or unless there is an extreme water blowout and you stay below the mean low tide line on the beach which rarely happens except in the winter.  Virginia landowners own to the mean low tide line even on the Potomac River unlike Maryland landowners who own only to the mean high tide line.  The property in Virginia does not need to be posted to be trespassing.  Posting or warnings to the trespasser increase the criminal penalty for the trespassing crime.  Boaters and kayakers have been increasingly trespassing on Virginia beaches causing a number of landowners to start having them arrested.  The number of arrests on the Virginia side of the Potomac River in 2017 increased dramatically over years past.  I know of at least 5 convictions in 2017 for trespassing in Stratford Hall.  The rangers in Westmoreland State Park wrote double the trespassing citations in 2017 over 2016 for people collecting on the beaches under their cliffs which is not permitted except with a state permit.  Also posts like yours here on TFF and Facebook are being used as evidence of the trespassing in the Virginia cases.  So posting that you are using your kayak to get to Virginia beaches is not smart at all.  Encouraging others to join you in Virginia is not smart at all.  Collecting like you are doing by kayak in Virginia is causing numerous Virginia landowners and communities to push for laws banning all fossil collecting in Virginia without a state or federal permit or written land owner permission.  A lot of your post is about legal collecting.  You need to stick to that.

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

 

I understand what you’re saying and maybe I forgot to clarify. Yes I collect at some river sites in VA, but I DO NOT kayak to these sites and/or tresspass to get to these locations. I get my share through the GUIDED trips down by Stratford Hall. I primarily collect is MD locations anyways since the VA sites are a bit far for me. This post is not to encourage people to tresspass and break the law. I’m simply just trying to report my fossil finds and meet new people.

 

Will B.

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You’ve made some excellent finds and great pics as well :fistbump: thanks 

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Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!

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17 hours ago, Williamb55 said:

I understand what you’re saying and maybe I forgot to clarify. Yes I collect at some river sites in VA, but I DO NOT kayak to these sites and/or tresspass to get to these locations. I get my share through the GUIDED trips down by Stratford Hall. I primarily collect is MD locations anyways since the VA sites are a bit far for me. This post is not to encourage people to tresspass and break the law. I’m simply just trying to report my fossil finds and meet new people.

 

Will B.

Then I would suggest that you edit your "A true hunt at the cliffs" post, because it certainly leaves us with the impression that you have kayaked to private beaches. Nevertheless, thanks for your detailed reports. Good thing that teeth don't take up much space. If those were ammonites, they'd be spilling out the back door and into the garden. And you have prepared a gourmet dinner for your family. Meg as appetizer, Mako with whale, dolphin and ray as main course, and Hemi as dessert along with a few others for snacks in between.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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22 hours ago, Williamb55 said:

I understand what you’re saying and maybe I forgot to clarify. Yes I collect at some river sites in VA, but I DO NOT kayak to these sites and/or tresspass to get to these locations. I get my share through the GUIDED trips down by Stratford Hall. I primarily collect is MD locations anyways since the VA sites are a bit far for me. This post is not to encourage people to tresspass and break the law. I’m simply just trying to report my fossil finds and meet new people.

 

Will B.

 

I'm glad you clarified your post.

 

I'm really bothered by the boat and kayak trespassing especially at Stratford Hall and Westmoreland State Park.  I used to lead for Stratford Hall, as a volunteer, a lot of the summer school fossil collecting trips.  Nothing angered me more, when I had a group of kids totally excited about finding their first shark tooth, then trespassers on a boat or kayaks pulling into the Stratford Hall beach ahead of the kids and collecting almost everything before the kids could.   It is totally discouraging when every good collecting area is covered with trespasser footprints and the kids aren't finding even a single tooth.  At Westmoreland State Park, my sons and I are on a State permit to collect in the restricted cliff area.  In 2017 my sons were digging a number of specimens out of the cliffs that were intended to be displayed in the visitor center in the park.  On three separate occasions trespassers broke open jacketed specimens in the cliffs to try to steal what was inside.  Specimens were damaged and some verts and ribs were stolen.  The skulls and jaws were too large and heavy for the trespassers to get out of the cliffs.     This action by the trespassers not only damaged the specimens but caused my sons the time and money to re-jacket them.

 

There were a number of collectors posting on Facebook in different fossil forums about how poor the security was at Westmoreland State Park and Stratford Hall and bragging about and showing all the teeth that they had illegally collected.  They also encouraged others to do the same.  The five convictions for trespassing at Stratford Hall in 2017 that I'm aware of were these posters.  It is really stupid also to post pictures where it is easy to identify the cliffs and where you are.  Stupid to post what was found illegally.  These trespassers aren't bragging anymore.  Some by court order are permanently banned from Stratford Hall property and have a two year ban from Westmoreland State Park (you can only do 2 year bans on public property).  They have criminal trespass on their records, are on probation with suspended jail time and paid hefty fines.  Several were also charged with theft above a certain dollar value based upon the value of the teeth in their posts.  They were really hit hard in sentencing.

 

As a member of the Stratford Harbour Community, as a volunteer at Stratford Hall, as a State permit holder at Westmoreland State Park I'm in that area all the time.  Now that the different land owners are willing to have arrested these trespassers, which they hadn't been willing to do in the past, I have absolutely no problem reporting trespassers and their boat numbers to Maryland DNR, or Virginia Marine Police, or the Westmoreland County sheriff or Stratford Hall security or Stratford Harbour security or the rangers at Westmoreland State Park as appropriate.  I've been a subpoenaed witness for previous trespass cases and have absolutely no problem with being a future witness.

 

My advice to all trespassers is don't do it.  You may not get caught today.  You may not get caught tomorrow.  But eventually you will be caught, arrested, prosecuted and convicted.  Ask some of those arrested and convicted in 2017 if it was worth it.

 

Marco Sr.

 

 

 

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"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

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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