Ecphora gardnerae (Wilson 1987)

@Ludwigia this one is a real beauty of a gastropod and hopefully I'll find some large ones with @SailingAlongToo or @drobare down the road. Not sure if I mentioned this but Ecphora are the state fossil of Maryland and for that reason I'm very fond of them. I found a large complete one last week and was washing it in the surf but a particularly hard wave knocked it out of my hands and it shattered with pieces going all throughout the surf. Sadly I wasn't able to recover all the pieces. Just curious when you take your pictures how do you get your lighting all set up because your photographs look really nice.

@Fossil-Hound

Leave the matrix on your shells when you find them. It helps protect them while travelling home. At home, dry them completely before you try to clean them up. Use a light spray from garden hose sprayer which will take off most of the dried matrix. (Your wife won't like it if you clean fossils in kitchen sink or bath tub, plus is clogs up the "U" trap in the drain.) Collect the matrix in a dish pan or other large container as you clean your fossil and then screen is with a window screen. You will be amazed at how much is helps protect the shells in travelling but also how many neat other fossils you will find when you screen the matrix. Just my 2 cents, which is always free.

Cheers,

@SailingAlongToo yeah I should have done that and brought some extra bags or tupperware for transportation. I wonder if I should have taken some super glue because I could see a small crack in the shell before cleaning it and in the future I won't ever prep in the field. Perhaps tonight I'll post some pictures of the Ecphora that I have now named "Humpty Dumpty."

Just now, Fossil-Hound said:

@SailingAlongToo yeah I should have done that and brought some extra bags or tupperware for transportation. I wonder if I should have taken some super glue because I could see a small crack in the shell before cleaning it and in the future I won't ever prep in the field. Perhaps tonight I'll post some pictures of the Ecphora that I have now named "Humpty Dumpty."

Humpty Dumpty?    I've had a few bigger than a baseball that I put a geo pick right through the middle. Mrs. SA2 was not amused or impressed. I think it was cold sandwiches for dinner that night.

I carry a roll of aluminium foil and some paper towels to wrap up fragile stuff. The aluminium foil leaves air pockets when wrapped around something and it and the paper towels are light weight. Plus, the paper towels come in handy if needed for another reason.   I also carry one of these recyclable grocery bags folded up in my back pack, in case I find the mother load and need extra carry space.

@SailingAlongToo wow that's a really good idea. Ok next time I'll take some of that stuff or a large plastic bag. Mrs. SA2 needs to teach me her Ecphora whispering ways!  I can't believe you wrecked some baseball sized shells. That's a shame.   

That's why a use a screw driver or garden trowel now when probing or exploring.

1 hour ago, Fossil-Hound said:

@Ludwigia this one is a real beauty of a gastropod and hopefully I'll find some large ones with @SailingAlongToo or @drobare down the road. Not sure if I mentioned this but Ecphora are the state fossil of Maryland and for that reason I'm very fond of them. I found a large complete one last week and was washing it in the surf but a particularly hard wave knocked it out of my hands and it shattered with pieces going all throughout the surf. Sadly I wasn't able to recover all the pieces. Just curious when you take your pictures how do you get your lighting all set up because your photographs look really nice.

Well, I sure do appreciate you sending me this beauty. Yes I already knew about it being the state fossil. My photo setup is quite simple. I just place it on an appropriate background in my abrading cabinet and use the light there. I also take shots in indirect light outside sometimes. The digital Canon PowerShot SX230 HS is hand-held, although I do have a stand if necessary, and I make an image section with the camera menu if need be. Then afterwards I put it through a photo editing programm to improve the color and sharpness.