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Visiting the Potomac 1/21


Hayley

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Hello everyone,

 

I will be visiting the Washington DC area, and want to take a trip to the Potomac to hunt for some shark teeth.   Can anyone suggest a good area, and possibly some gear to wear this time of year?  I normally wear a wet suit and waterproof boots for this sort of thing and stay relatively warm, so I'm not too worried about the cold.  I am looking for a spot with easy access, and preferably not private property, unless someone is willing to let me search on their land.  I have never been to the Potomac before, so any suggestions are welcome!  Thank you!

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Purse State Park is a relatively easy access site and lies south of D.C. in Charles County, MD (Nanjemoy is the town I believe). The fossils there are from the Paleocene about 59-56 mya and primarily made up of shark's teeth and ray dental plates which for the most part are small, but quite abundant.

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9 minutes ago, Hayley said:

Hello everyone,

 

I will be visiting the Washington DC area, and want to take a trip to the Potomac to hunt for some shark teeth.   Can anyone suggest a good area, and possibly some gear to wear this time of year?  I normally wear a wet suit and waterproof boots for this sort of thing and stay relatively warm, so I'm not too worried about the cold.  I am looking for a spot with easy access, and preferably not private property, unless someone is willing to let me search on their land.  I have never been to the Potomac before, so any suggestions are welcome!  Thank you!

 

There are several options with 1 of them being free and having much more area to search. 

 

Purse State Park in MD is free and has a lot of beach to search. There is a Gale Warning for today and a Small Craft Advisory for tomorrow, so it will be WINDY and cold. Wind chill is around 10F right now and water temp is showing 42F. Dress in layers with the outer layer windproof.

 

Other options are Stratford Hall and Westmoreland State Park in VA. Both of them have very small public beach collecting areas and they charge for access to the properties. If you go to one of these, please do not stray past the ropes / fence that demarcate the public area.

 

Good luck.

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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Another option is Calvert Cliffs out on the Chesapeake Bay, about an hour east of DC. Bayfront Park in Chesapeake Beach, MD, has a public access point.

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Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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Awesome, thank you! I’m thinking purse state park sounds good. Hopefully I will find a nice big one, but that might be a shot in the dark. 

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10 minutes ago, Hayley said:

Awesome, thank you! I’m thinking purse state park sounds good. Hopefully I will find a nice big one, but that might be a shot in the dark. 

 

You can find some decent sized (up to 2") Otodus obliquus there but most of the teeth are finger nail size up to 1 inch, and there can be lots of them. I'm quite fond of the croc teeth from there. Just don't dig in the cliffs!

 

I just checked the tide for you and low tide is at 1250pm and the northerly wind is blowing the water out of the river and bay. Should be a good day to hunt if you can handle the wind & cold.

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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That’s great news! Thank you for your help. I am used to hunting the Peace River so this will be a bit different. 

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I second Calvert Cliffs and Brownies!

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