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Had a quick hunt at Purse State park, first time! only about two hours on the beach and found a lot! no big ones but a bunch of interesting sand tigers. Then had some time at my Calvert Cliffs spot, and just as I thought the hunt was a bust, I found a nice tooth! Not sure what the big one is but I think it is a Hastalis? Anyway, great time both hunts!

I got on the beach a little later than I should have and missed low tide. I hiked down the beach in high tide, in my chest waders, and had to turn back because most of the beach had disappeared. Still found some good teeth! A nice crocodile tooth which was a tripmaker and my first piece of a large Meg! I've gotten smaller meg pieces but this one gave me a lot of hope for the future. It showed me that there are Megs out there. Found this piece of meg in the wire and rock dividers that separate the cliffs from the beach, apparently called Gabion baskets? Not sure. Anyway, I also saw a Snake sitting on some clay! Great day, I cant wait to go back. Maybe try a spot in VA next time.

Recently found this coral fossil which seems to match rugose corals from the Carboniferous, however it was found in the lower Chester River, Maryland, which is considered Paleocene. I was also suggested ‘eridiphyllum’ and ‘disphyllum’, also from older than expected periods.

Hey everyone, A few days ago I finally got back out to Bayfront Park. According to the local forecast, it was going to be a cloudy day, but there was enough space in the sky during the sunrise for the sun to peek through and create a marvelous display of colors. I always love the scenery at Brownies, and that day was especially beautiful. The tide was relatively low when I arrived, but since I got there just after peak low tide, the water was rising for the entire time I was there, and it rose much faster than I would've liked. I didn't find any big teeth, but overall still had a great day collecting. I hope you enjoy my YouTube video of the hunt, embedded below. If you haven't already done so, please subscribe to my channel, leave a like on the video, and drop a comment as well to let me know what you thought! Thanks for the support! With the weather starting to finally warm up, I will hopefully be able to get out more frequently. Hoping for some low tides. Hoppe hunting!

I went to 4 other beaches on Oct. 8 & 9 with guide Paul Murdoch Jr. He is extremely knowledgeable and has access to beaches that non-residents can't access. The weather was amazing as well, but the water started to become more rough, but not too rough.

Can anyone ID this type of rock?

Can anyone identify these bones? Found on beach just south of Pax River NAS.

Kiddo found this while looking for shells at the beach in the Southern Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia. Looks like driftwood, solid and heavy like rock. Weighs 19 grams and is approx 5cm x 3cm x ¾cm. I told her I would ask. She really hopes it's a bone fossil.

New Species Of Fossil Found Along Calvert Cliffs, Calvert County By Calvert Marine Museum, The Bay Net Local Fossil Enthusiasts Discover New Fossils At Calvert Cliffs Calvert Marine Museum, The Southern Maryland Chronicle, January 12, 2022 The paper is: Godfrey, S.J. and Carnevale, G., 2021. A new cobia (Teleostei, Rachycentridae) species from the Miocene St. Marys Formation along Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA. Journal of Paleontology, 95(3), pp.630-637. Yours, Paul H.

Hi everyone. I went to Calvert Cliffs last week & found an interesting piece of bone. I have dozens of bone fragments from the Bay, but almost all of them are linear. This one is much more rounded. It is slightly bigger than a quarter. It might be too small to identify, but I thought it was worth sharing. It doesn't look turtle-y to me, but I guess that is a possibility.

Hi Everyone, I had a great outing at Flag Ponds Park yesterday. The day started with my first intact Meg about 20 minutes into my search. Then later on I found an herbivore tooth. Please help me ID the species. It measures approximately 2.6 cm x 2.7 cm. Thanks for your help.

Hi everyone, I am pretty new to fossil hunting and don't know much yet. I have found lots of shark teeth over the last year, close to 100, but don't know what a lot of them are. The vast majority of my collection is #6 & #9. Those seem pretty common. I have found around 8 of #1 (the one in the photo is the largest), four of #2, two of #3, and around 5 of #7. Numbers 4,5,8,10 are my only finds like those pictured. I would love some assistance identifying these if anyone knows what they are. Please let me know if you would like close ups of any tooth. I would be happy to add some additional photos if necessary. All the best, etj915

hello the west side of the Chesapeake Bay is famous for vertebrate fossils at sites like Calvert Cliffs has anyone found or know or finds of vertebrate fossils on the EAST coast of the bay? thanks

Hi all, I found this strange vertebra today in a small creek that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. If it's a fossil, it is from the Calvert Formation. It's unlike anything I've seen before, and certainly not a cetacean vert, so that begs the question: what is it? I have not done the burn test on it yet to confirm it as a fossil, but can anyone identify it based on morphology? I believe it to be from a large terrestrial animal, but I'd like an expert/experienced opinion. Thank you in advance!

Hi all! I could use some help IDing this fossil (thanks in advance for any insights!). Found on a beach in Maryland (nearish Calvert Cliffs). Could be a tooth (?), ~1in long, has a 'midline' on one side and 4 knob-like 'roots' on the bottom. Not conical but tapers to a point. Pics are front, back, and side.

Over the past few months work has been crazy (although in a VERY good way) and I haven't had the time to post summaries of my past few trips to the Calvert Cliffs formation. Long stories short, I was able to get down to the cliffs on a few occasions between Feb-April 2019. Most of the time I was able to go when tides were good, however on my most recent trip they were horrible. I've met a lot of awesome people along the beach and developed many good friendships...in fact I think that 95% of the people I met have been extremely friendly, genuine, willing to give advice, and just plain good people, which is something I love about this hobby. I was even able to talk the wifey into coming down once...of course she loved it, and of course she found a larger tooth than I ever have. About half my trips were to Brownies and the other half were to a private site that I have access to. The beaches have changed dramatically over these few months with numerous falls and spills, which highlights the importance of keeping your head on a swivel and always respecting the cliffs. On one occasion I made the 3 hour trip just to turn around about 2 hours later because the cliffs were so unstable. Hopefully we have a dry summer, the piles get a chance to wash out, and the cliffs become a bit more stable. Anyway, enough rambling. Below are some pics of my better finds from the two sites, I hope you enjoy them. No complete Meg yet, but I hope that changes when I make another trip down next week!

New to the sport. Found these yesterday at Calvert Cliffs and along the Potomac River. Big debate was weather the largest piece was bark that had been replaced by iron of if it was just a clump of iron from the bog. Several larger pieces observed on site in the cliffs and on the beach- some said they were wood; other just "bog iron". Please critique or help with id. Thank you.

Hey all, The Calvert Cliffs have been falling left and right recently. Countless cliff slides have led to plenty of new material becoming accessible on the beaches, but the unstable cliffs also call for extra caution. I decided to return to my favorite winter hunting location, Bayfront Park, to try and take advantage of the cliff falls. I thought it would be a good opportunity to film my first YouTube video, which I have been wanting to do for a while, so I brought my new handheld camera mount. Peak low tide was exactly at sunrise, so I woke up at 4 a.m. in order to arrive at the beach before then. Early mornings can be rough, but if you're getting up to do something you love it's a whole lot easier. When I got to the parking lot, it was still very dark and I actually had to use my phone's flashlight to hunt for the first few minutes before the sun began its ascent into the horizon. It was a very cloudy day, so unfortunately I wasn't treated with one of the gorgeous Brownies sunrises. Within 10 or 15 minutes or searching, I found one of the biggest teeth I've ever found at Brownies, a huge 2 inch mako in perfect condition. That's when I knew it was going to be a good day. Not too long after that, I stumbled across a circular object slightly covered by sand. It looked like it could be some kind of vertebra or possible a "cookie" (dolphin epiphysis), but there was only one way to find out. When I tried pulling it out, it didn't budge. I pulled harder. As it still wouldn't come out, I realized it must be much larger than it appeared on the surface. Throwing aside the rock next to it, I finally pulled out a beautiful cetacean vertebra! I've always wanted to find one, especially after running into a guy who found a dozen of them on my last Brownies trip, so I was ecstatic. I continued finding some very nice teeth. I also found another cetacean vertebra, this time a very different shape but in very good condition. Despite the harsh temperature and dangerous cliffs, there were quite a few other hunters out on the beach. At one point I ran into a man who had found two perfects Megs, each one about 2 inches. I hoped to find one for myself, but had no such luck. Regardless, I was extremely content with everything I found and began to make my way back to the car. This trip was one to remember, not only because of the awesome finds, but also the fun experience of filming the video. I kept this trip report rather short, because the video covers the detail I usually go into, and then some. Anyway, I've wanted to become a fossil hunting YouTuber pretty much ever since I began hunting, but I just never really got around to it until now. I love watching YouTubers like @addicted2fossils, and I hope others will find my videos to be entertaining and educational as well. I've posted the link to my video below, and I would really appreciate it if you would take a second to like the video, leave a comment, and subscribe to my channel. I'll be putting out many videos like this in the future. I have some very exciting trips coming up, including hunting at a private creek site and going to the annual Aurora Fossil Festival in NC! Stay tuned. Hoppe hunting!

Happy New Year, everyone! I was able to sneak in one more hunt before my winter break ended. I kicked off 2019 with another trip to my favorite winter location, Bayfront Park/Brownies Beach. The tides and weather looked favorable, not too cold and relatively low tide very early in the morning. I came more equipped than ever, complete with my new hunting gear that I got for Christmas, including a pair of chest waders (finally!), a sling pack, and a hat from the Calvert Marine Museum with an awesome Hemipristis design. I was one of the first to arrive, and quickly made use of the waders by rounding the cove that can be virtually impossible to pass without them. My waders feature a large mesh zipper pocket on the chest, and that proved to be remarkably useful. No more carrying around tupperware to hold my finds! I stepped foot on the beach about ten minutes before sunrise, and I was blessed with a gorgeous display of colors as the sun shone through the clouds. A few fellow hunters passed me, but I kept my head down and walked slowly, carefully examining every inch of the beach. I was finding a good deal of smalltooth sand tigers with awesome cusplets, but nothing too big for the first hour or so. Even though the majority of teeth found here are small, you can get some pretty stunning colors, not to mention the mind-blowing quality of preservation of some of the teeth. Even after millions of years, the teeth are still sharp enough to cut you fairly easily. That's something that never ceases to amaze me. Anyway, I soon stumbled across a larger tooth laying right out in the open, high up the beach in the dryer sand. It was a very pretty Isurus desori, a mako shark tooth! I happily dropped it into the pouch and kept moving. I continued to find small and medium sized teeth for the majority of the morning. At one point, I picked up a complete dolphin epiphysis, or "cookie" as many collectors call them. I had found a few fragments of them at this location before, but this was my first one to be fully intact. I found it increasingly difficult to navigate the beach as the tide came in, as there were many fresh tree falls and cliff slides due to the recent weather conditions. I decided to call it a day at around noon, so in total I hunted for about 5 hours. My haul consisted of a plethora of sand tigers, many tigers and requiems, a handful of small hemis, a few makos and hammerheads, one broken cow shark tooth, a few odontocete teeth, ray plates, the cookie, and a nice gastropod shell. A pretty typical Brownies haul. I ran into a few other collectors, none who seemed to have found anything incredible, but I always love talking fossils with fellow enthusiasts! I was even able to identify another hunter's find for her, which I always thoroughly enjoy as well. Overall, I had a very nice first trip of the new year and couldn't think of a better way to wrap up my winter break before heading back to school. Thanks for reading my report, and please check out the Hop 5, posted below. I'm starting something new with my trip reports in 2019! I HOPPE you'll enjoy! Sorry, I just can't help myself when it comes to puns. Hoppe hunting! ~David

After just over a year of fossil collecting, I have finally found my first Meg! On Thursday, the first semester of my senior year came to an end. The next day, Friday, school was closed for a teacher work day. I figured I'd make the most of my day off by heading out to Bayfront Park. What better way to celebrate making it through the first half of senior year? I though that because it was a Friday, and rather cold, not many people would be out on the beach because they'd either be at school, work, or home because of the weather. I was right. When I arrived at a little before noon, there were only a few cars in the parking lot, and not all of them were fellow hunters. I slipped on my waders and made my way down the path, shovel and sifter in hand. Funny enough, I never actually sifted a single screen, because I didn't need to. I had no idea the tide was going to be as low as it was. But boy, was it out there. Even with a few hours before peak low tide, the entire beach was exposed and the water was calm. I stopped briefly at the cove area that people so often underestimate, and within five minutes of stepping onto the beach found a perfect little cow shark tooth laying right out in the open. That's when I knew it was going to be a good day of hunting. The tide was probably the one of the lowest I've ever seen at Brownies, so I had plenty of ground to cover. Trying not to get ahead of myself, I made sure to still walk very slowly and scan over the ground thoroughly. After about an hour, I was walking down near the water on a part of the beach that is normally submerged when I stumbled across a large tooth, half buried in the sand. My heart stopped when I spotted it. It clearly had signs of a bourlette, so I immediately knew I was looking right at my first ever meg. I pulled out my phone and began recording. I prayed that it would be whole as I carefully pried it out of the sand. To my delight, it was mostly complete, with flawless serrations and an intact tip. It had a bit of damage and it was missing the actual bourlette (must've fallen off), but I didn't mind one bit. I cleaned it off and spent marveled at the amazing tooth I had just found. I couldn't believe what was happening. After calling my friends and family and sending them the video, I carefully wrapped the tooth in tissue paper and aluminum foil to insure that it would make it home safely. There was no way I was throwing that tooth in my waders pouch like I do with the rest! I would have been more than happy if I hadn't found a single other tooth that day, but that was not the case. I continued south, and kept looking towards the water, hoping for some other nice finds. I found a fair share of decent makos, and another large but beaten up cow shark tooth. I eventually ran into a man named Scott who was hunting for the first time ever, and he showed me his backpack full of cetacean verts, including a very large whale vert. He told me he had been there since before sunrise, and hadn't had much luck with teeth, but clearly was finding verts left and right. I of course answered his question, "Any luck?" with a prompt "Oh yes, I hit the jackpot today." He congratulated me on my first meg, and we talked for a while more. He was a really cool guy, and I enjoyed helping him identify some finds and learn more about the cliffs. After my exchange with Scott, I went farther down the beach, finding more decent teeth and a few verts. At one point, I saw what was clearly another megatooth in the sand, and held my breath as I unearthed it. Unfortunately, it was only the tip of what was most likely a very large tooth. A true heartbreaker, but with everything else I had already found I couldn't complain. As the tide began to come in, I decided to head back to the entrance and make my way home. I caught up to Scott again, and we talked about my plans to become a paleontologist as we walked back up to our cars. I can say with some confidence that this was my best Brownies Beach trip ever, and perhaps even my best trip ever, period. I ended up finding a meg (although it's technically a C. chubutensis I believe), some very nice makos, a few complete cow shark teeth, hemis, sand tigers, a lot of tigers, a ray barb/spine, and a lot of fish and shark verts. I honestly don't think I could be much happier with my finds, and I am beyond thrilled to add my first megatooth to my collection! As far as a public site like Brownies goes, this is considered an extremely productive day, especially considering I only really hunted for about four hours, compared to my usual 6-7+. 2019 is certainly off to an amazing start; this is only my second hunt of the year! Thank you so much for reading my report, and here's to many more megs in the future! Here's a link to my YouTube video of finding the tooth. I will eventually be making full length videos of my hunts in the future, so please subscribe to the channel if you like! Thank you all. Also be sure to check out the Hop 5 post that will be up soon, and cast your vote for the tripmaker. Hoppe Hunting!

Hi all, I finally made the trek to Matoaka Beach, a fossil collecting site along the Calvert Cliffs on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The beach is accessible to the public for $5 per person per day. Once we arrived, we reported to the front office where the property owner and his adorable newborn daughter were happy to collect our fee and give us access to the beach along with advice on how to best hunt the grounds. He advised us to head North (left of the entrance), which was what I had also read online. Apparently, the farther North you head, the better the fossils tend to be. So my dad and I made our way down the stairs to the foot of the cliffs, and began searching. The beach is very wide, so it's difficult to decide where to walk. I was finding fragments of Chesapectan shells left and right, but nothing quite worth keeping. But then, after maybe 5 minutes of hunting, I looked down at my feet and saw a large, complete, Ecphora staring back at me. I could hardly believe it. At a site where invertebrates dominate the matrix, a nice Ecphora is just about equivalent to finding a Megalodon tooth. And yes, I am aware that Meg teeth can be and have been found at this site before, but the find that I was after that day was certainly Ecphora. It was a gorgeous specimen, much larger and more complete than any other I'd found before. And there it was, just laying out in the open, a couple hundred yards from the entrance. I excitedly showed my dad the find, and promptly continued hunting, although I knew there was likely no beating what I had just found at the very beginning of the day. As I walked farther North, I marveled at the cliffs, which were absolutely chalk full of invertebrate fossils. It was incredible, and unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I kept finding crushed shells and small pieces of fossilized coral, but nothing spectacular. That is, until I stumbled upon the section of the beach where many huge chunks of the cliffs had fallen. I decided to look for large shells sticking out of the cliff falls, and very quickly discovered the best method for finding fossils at Matoaka. Immediately, I began finding giant Chesapectan every couple of inches in the cliff falls. After unearthing about a dozen, I decided to head North again to see if I could find another similar section. I walked at least a mile farther and found next to nothing, so I turned around and headed back towards the digging site. When I arrived, I saw that my dad has discovered the falls and was digging through them just as I had been. We both set down our gear and decided to spend the rest of our day there carefully excavating shells from the matrix. This was certainly different than the fossil hunting I've done in the past. It felt more like the traditional "dig site" hunting that most people think of when they think of a paleontologist or archaeologist. It was really cool. At one point, I saw a familiar spiral structure just poking out of one of the falls, and quickly recognized it as a small Ecphora. I plopped myself down on the ground next to it and spent the next 20 or so minutes cautiously excavating it. I foolishly forgot to bring a digging kit, so I resourcefully used broken fragments of sturdy shells around me to dig out the specimen. Although I chipped off a few pieces of it, I managed to extract it from the matrix mostly intact. With that, we headed back towards the entrance. We decided to sift for a bit to try for some shark teeth, and eventually I found one and my dad found three. Matoaka is unrivaled for invertebrate fossils along the Cliffs, but it's definitely not a top spot for teeth. Overall, I was incredibly pleased with my first trip to Matoaka Beach. From the friendly owners to the beautiful scenery and wildlife and the fantastic fossil finds, Matoaka Beach is a must for any fossil hunter in the DMV area. We ended up finding a ton of Chesapectan, ranging from "itty bitty" nearly the size of my hand, some stunning Ecphora, fossilized coral and barnacles, some Turritella, and a few shark teeth as well. I already can't wait to go back to Matoaka. Thanks for reading my report. Hoppe Hunting!

I went hunting on Sunday at Flag Ponds & found this interesting, probable Cetacean bone. I would appreciate your help with an ID, of what body part, if possible. The piece is about 7.25 cm long & 5 cm wide. The hole is big enough to hold a sharpened pencil. Thanks for looking.

I found two interesting teeth on Sunday at Flag Ponds.Not sure if there is enough there for identifications, but thought I would share anyway since I haven't posted in awhile. The smaller tooth looks curved and asymmetrical, is that indicative of a back jaw position, or something else? Thanks for looking.

This is a fossil of unknown origin, it was allegedly found burried in sand near the shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia; or possibly on the banks of the James River. The previous owner believed it to be an intervertebral disc of some kind of whale. It is clearly fossilized and has some areas encrusted with a sand like mineral. It also has a few spots where a shiny black mineral has been deposited. Can anyone provide an identification and possible an estimated age?