Rowboater Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 While I am eager to check out the creek in the woods, have had some trouble with tick ricketssiae, and also not eager to trudge through swamp. So I paddled over to a nearby beach on the Rappahannock, hoping all the recent flooding had deposited some shark teeth. Mostly I found whale bone (will post after dries), but was rewarded in two hours with five white shark/ mako teeth, a hemi and a few others. Most were weathered but two are nice. Also found a couple of giant tree oyster shells (??: common in the swampy creek) but with strong luster (?). Maybe something similar extant??? The penny for scale is 0.75 inches (19mm) in diameter. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Some very nice looking teeth there! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Very nice, congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunbleached Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 You found some nice ones. Is the river up with all the rain? I was on the Chesapeake Sunday and the water was high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted September 18, 2018 Author Share Posted September 18, 2018 "Whale bone" was everywhere. Here is a scan of some small pieces I picked up. Thirty years ago we used to say "If you find whale bone, you'll find shark teeth". Today was the rare exception where that was true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharko69 Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Great looking teeth! I would be thrilled with those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Are you sure all that bone is from whale? There might be some other marine mammals mixed in there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted September 19, 2018 Author Share Posted September 19, 2018 16 hours ago, caldigger said: Are you sure all that bone is from whale? There might be some other marine mammals mixed in there as well. Quite likely they are from lots of animals. There were generically (and inaccurately) called 'whale bone', most have few identifying features, just fossilized bone. I have a jeweler friend who prefers translucent rocks but is trying to polish some of the dense non-descript pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 Sending you a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 On 9/19/2018 at 5:40 AM, sunbleached said: You found some nice ones. Is the river up with all the rain? I was on the Chesapeake Sunday and the water was high. The beach is on the lower Rapp, so flooding is somewhat blunted (it spills into low lying areas; it's banks are low). The water is a dirty greenish color and visibility is poor. But I think the water and winds pushed a lot of teeth onto or in the wash at the beach. Hope to get out again soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 Among the pieces of fossilized bone I found two pieces that have 'scooped out', relatively smooth areas. While I suppose they could be joints, they don't look like the joints i have found in the past. I'm wondering if they could be damaged and healed areas in the bone? Sent some photos to a pathologist friend to see what she thinks. Sorry for the cell phone photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 Also found a one inch thick vertebra or vertebral disc(?) Not like the usual ones I find. Although weathered, one surface is slightly concave the opposite convex. Lots of "rings" in the concave side. (Gotta get a better camera). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted September 22, 2018 Author Share Posted September 22, 2018 Not sure if these are giant tree oysters (which I see frequently in the creek in the woods, and are dull chalky white). Maybe these big beach shells are not fossils? Their luster is striking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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