SailingAlongToo Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 This past Sunday Mrs.SA2 and I ventured out for what was going to be my last opportunity to fossil hunt in 2018 due to my work schedule. Sunday's weather forecast was for upper 40s F, light rain - mist, 15 mph Nor'east winds gusting to 20 mph, 3 foot waves and water levels along all the rivers running double normal for this time of year due to all the recent rain and snow melt. Obviously, not ideal for fossil hunting along any of eastern VA's swollen rivers but it was the last day I could hunt this year, so we were going to make the best of it. Mrs.SA2 is quite the trooper and always up for an adventure. (I think she was just humoring me since she's off work from Christmas Eve till after NYs and plans on doing lots of fossil hunting with some of our fossil friends.) We hit the beach at high tide and hoped we would get at least some water level drop moving towards low. No such luck, wind picked up and waves started crashing the beach. We spent about 5 hours walking what little beach there was and found plenty of (several hundred) small sharks teeth, but nothing exciting, not even large broken teeth. I did manage to find a worn dolphin periotic, which are always nice to find and we pulled out quite a few Chesapecten nefrens from recent slides/falls, but that was about it. Nothing worth even posting photos of on TFF. Before hitting the beach we had discussed the cliffs being super-saturated from all the rain and recent snow, and the need for us to stay together and to pay particular attention to the cliffs as we moved along. There were even a few places we walked out in the waist deep water instead of under some nasty looking spots. On our way back to the entrance point, we stopped so she could put the teeth she was "hiding" in her mitten, into a plastic bag, as we knew we were approaching one of the spots where we needed to walk in the water. As we did that, 10 feet in front of us the cliff broke free and dropped about 4 dump truck loads of material and 2 very large trees down on the beach. Photo below from the upstream side. Thank goodness we were on the downstream side at the time it fell since you can see the trees covering the beach on the upstream side. Downstream side looked much more dramatic with all the cliff material, but smaller falls were still occurring there, so we went into waist deep water and moved around the danger area fairly quickly yet carefully. Eastern VA has experienced its wettest year on record and it's still going. We are forecast for another 1.25 - 1.75 inches of rain tonight through tomorrow night and 2 more significant rain events before years end. It will all be storm runoff as the ground can't absorb anymore water. There is standing water everywhere. I can only imagine what the Freeze - Thaw Cycle will do to all the cliffs and bluffs this winter given how saturated the sediment and stratigraphy is. This made the 4th cliff fall we have seen since March along various VA rivers. 10 Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Thank goodness you were alright! Poor trees, though. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Excellent timely reminder that fossil hunting is not worth dying for. Glad you both are OK, and that it wasn't a worse hunt for you. Be careful, all of you cliff hunters! Thanks for posting this PSA. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoppeHunting Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Thanks for the heads up, and glad you're both okay! I'm thinking about heading to the Calvert Cliffs sometime in the near future to take advantage of the recent rain. I'll be sure to be extra cautious if I go. For reference, was this a river or bay site? The Hunt for the Hemipristine continues! ~Hoppe hunting!~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Been there done that. Pays to be careful,,,,,,,,, and lucky. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Rico Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Really glad your both are OK . it is amazing how much martial can be washed away in the deluge. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilsAnonymous Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Really glad you all are okay. I was thinking about heading to Matoaka tomorrow for my birthday but I may just go to cove point instead. On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Very fortuitous time to stop and stash the goodies. Glad You only witnessed the event and were not part of it. Stay safe out there. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 One must always respect the cliffs. Dynamic and dangerous indeed. “...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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