Crabs, seals and shark bites

[Tidgy's Dad]

Very nice report, most interesting and great finds too. 

[JohnJ]

Good research and finds, gentlemen.  

 

@MB

[Gizmo]

20 hours ago, JohnJ said:

Good research and finds, gentlemen.  

 

@MB

Thanks John! 

[JarrodB]

Nice trip report. Thanks for sharing. 

[Gizmo]

Das boot! -

 

[sharkdoctor]

One last bit from the second trip.  A megalodon that still has some moss growing on it

  

 

 

[Gizmo]

Same tooth before cleaning, almost as wide as it is long and the back story is hilarious!

 

 

 

[Auspex]

5 hours ago, Gizmo said:

the back story is hilarious!

Do tell, please!

[Gizmo]

16 hours ago, Auspex said:

Do tell, please!

      As it was a CMM sponsored trip we had access to several cliff exposures. Sharkdoctor has a great eye, can scan a cliff face and pick out the smallest inclusions that in many cases expose the tip or edge of a fossil. I on the other hand have always been much more of a beach gravel collector. Since working at the CMM it's been important for me to develop these scanning abilities which provide in-situ specimens with much more scientific value. My abilities are still at the um, comical level  compared to Sharkdoctor's talents. On this trip we were after crab nodules located in a lag layer along a small cliff . Sharkdoctor easily found the layer and explained where I was to look and follow the layer along this 10 foot high , 45 foot long blue clay exposure. The lag was clearly visible to him about 3 feet above the beach level and he popped out several crabs and shark teeth to show me. As I stood there nodding in agreement all I saw was a blue wall of clay with no distinguishing layers but with some yummy beach gravel at the base.....uhoh. The plan was for me to SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY scan a 15 foot section  and he would follow several minutes later to  check my work. I starred blankly at the blue cliff face in front of me while trying to ignore the black hole like gravitational pull of that beautiful gravel at my feet. After several minutes of scanning I managed to pop out a couple of crabs and several other small fossils.........success! Feeling very proud of myself I yelled out that I'd finished the section with Mueller- like thoroughness, had found a few things and now it was GRAVEL TIME! A couple minutes later I was in possession of a 2 inch+ Hastalis and several more shark teeth, great! As I was walking back to show off my finds Sharkdoctor was standing in front of my assigned section grinning.........my heart sank. He asked if I'd looked carefully,  yup I replied knowing that something was up. He pointed to a thin strip of moss that had grown down the cliff face from the top edge then reached up and pulled it over several inches. Hiding behind the moss the Meg tip was protruding over an inch, clearly visible from 10 feet away, oh well. He consoled me that it was probably a heart breaker, just a broken tip maybe.  I assured him it would be complete, it was. Erosion is very very slow at this site and I wondered how many collectors over the years had walked by scanning the cliff but didn't move the moss.

 

           I could share several more stories just like this one but will  show you another Sharkdoctor find instead, on a different river, 15 feet away from me, 2 minutes after he'd urged me to check the cliff face and I said "nah, I'm not finding anything". From now on I'll move the moss!

 

        

[sharkdoctor]

On 3/22/2019 at 3:42 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Very nice report, most interesting and great finds too. 

Thanks! I've so been enjoying your trip reports from Morocco. You've set a high bar!

[sharkdoctor]

8 hours ago, Gizmo said:

           I could share several more stories just like this one but will  show you another Sharkdoctor find instead, on a different river, 15 feet away from me, 2 minutes after he'd urged me to check the cliff face and I said "nah, I'm not finding anything". From now on I'll move the moss!

 

        

!! Great storytelling, but you're leaving out all of the times you've trounced me. Like the time last fall when you found 15 2-inch makos and 4 great whites in the span of 20 minutes 

 

[dalmayshun]

The friend I hunt with has that "keen eye" syndrome also, and  fortunately like most fossil hunting buddies, he is very kind to me. He never directly goes to what he sees, but always makes a circle in the air with his arm chiming...."somewhere in this area."