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What a trip! I finally had the opportunity to visit the renowned Westmoreland State Park in Montross, VA. I had heard mixed feelings about the site online, with some claiming it was far too over-picked and others dubbing it reliable and productive. I decided the best way to find out the truth was to go there myself! My dad and I hit the road early to get there before sunrise. It was about a 2 hour drive. We arrived and expected to have to pay a fee to get in, but it appeared that no one was being charged. I guess there is only a fee during the summer months. We hiked down the steep trail to Fossil Beach to discover that a few had beaten us to the first spot. They, however, had only come for a short visit and were heading out just as we arrived. It was low tide, but the water was still high up the beach. My dad and I spent the first hour or so walking along the river in the water, which I typically don't do. But I was finding some great teeth! The water was relatively calm and very clear so I could see everything in the sand with ease. My dad went further down the beach while I kept a steady pace and picked up anything I could spot. After about half an hour spent in the water, I looked down a little deeper and saw a large tooth sitting on top of the sand, facing towards me. My heart skipped a beat and my first thought was "Megalodon", but once I picked it up I realized it couldn't be so. It was a very large Mako, rather. It's about 2 inches in slant height, and in great condition. Undoubtedly the largest tooth I've found in my fossil hunting career. After finding something so incredible, it seemed that the rest of the day was underwhelming in comparison. But I did manage some other nice finds. More people showed up at the beach as the sun rose and the air began to warm up. When someone came to me and asked if I was having any luck, I was more than happy to show them the huge tooth I had found. Many thought it was amazing. I also had the opportunity to explain the world of fossil hunting to an elderly couple who showed up and had no idea what everyone was looking for. I had a nice conversation with them and answered their many questions, then gave them a few teeth and got back to work. This is not the first time someone has come to me asking what exactly I'm doing pacing up and down the beach. I absolutely love to inform them when they ask. I eventually made it all the way to the border of the beach where the cliffs pick back up, where I picked up a cliff fall and carried it to a safe distance from the cliffs. I used my rock hammer to pick away slowly at the fall, but came away with nothing. The tide was getting really high and the beach began to disappear. I had to cross the stream that separates the beaches before it got too high, otherwise I would have been stranded. My dad and I decided it would be best to call it a day at Westmoreland and go grab some lunch nearby, but we weren't done hunting yet. Right down the road from Westmoreland State Park is Stratford Hall Plantation, the birthplace and childhood home of General Robert E. Lee. I have been to this site before actually, for one of my first fossil hunting trips ever. I convinced my dad that it would be worth it to go give Stratford a shot once we finished our lunches. We made the short drive and paid the entry fee then drove down to the beach for a few last hours of hunting. We were finding teeth in larger quantities than at Westmoreland, but nothing too large. It is interesting to see the varying frequencies of finds between the two sites. For example, at Westmoreland I only found two ray plates, while at Stratford I found nearly 30 of them, some large, and in less time spent hunting. Instead of beach combing like we did at Westmoreland, we sifted at Stratford for the majority of the time. We wrapped up the trip with one last walk up and down the small beach, then waved goodbye to the Potomac. The grand total of shark teeth found between me and my dad was 167. The finds are not as abundant here as some other local sites like Brownie's or Purse, but in terms of quality it is high end. We found some decent sized hastalis and Makos, and a lot of the usual Tigers, Hemis, Lemons, and Requiems. I found one tooth that I believe is the crown of an Odontocete but I could also see how it could be a small crocodile tooth because of its visible vertical ridges and the fact that it is hollow. I will be posting identification topics on that tooth and many others from this trip, because we definitely found a few strange things. Overall, a great day on the Potomac, and my first time hitting two sites in one day. I walked away with my biggest tooth and handful of other great finds. Thanks for taking the time to read my report. Hoppe hunting!

I'm back! A long spring break presented me with the opportunity to go out on a few fossil trips. I just haven't gotten around to posting until now. But here we go! After finding over 600 shark teeth in one day at Purse State Park, how could I not go back? With the stress of school completely absent from my mind, I went down to the park along the Potomac River for another day searching for Paleocene fossils. I arrived early, as I always try to, and I was the only one there when I arrived. Instead of heading to the left of the entrance as I did on my first trip, I decided to start by going right. After all, that was where I found my beloved Otodus tooth! This ended up being a good decision. For about the first hour, I wasn't finding teeth quite as often as my first outing, and this was a bit discouraging. However, as the sun rose higher into the sky, I started finding teeth left and right. I believe I was the only true fossil hunter at the site for the whole day; only a family or two with their children showed up for about an hour each and headed out. The one other person I did meet, however, was a man who was searching not for fossils, but for driftwood. Apparently he makes some pretty awesome sculptures with the wood he collects. He was pacing the beach with a heavy chainsaw. I originally thought he may have been after sharks teeth as well, but he assured me that "the teeth are all yours, buddy!" A matter of seconds after he said that, I picked up a small tooth that looked unlike anything I'd found at Purse before. Holding it closer to my face, I saw serrations on the blade. I knew it could only be one thing: Palaeocarcharodon! I was jumping with joy! It was a very small tooth, but very pretty. I was climbing through a big clump of fallen trees and logs when I found it. More proof that looking in obscure areas is worth it! The tide was rising. I kept further from the entrance, finding more of the usual Sand Tigers along the way. I made it to the duck hunting post, and turned around. Although the tide was reaching high up the beach, I thought going to the left would still be worth a shot. I walked a little faster than usual to reach the cliff area before it was too late to access them. I hardly found anything on my way there, and by the time I did reach the cliffs, the tide was almost completely engulfing that section of the beach. So I made my way back towards the entrance. The tide was reaching higher and higher up the beach, and I realized that I would likely have to leave soon because there would be no more beach to hunt on. So I made one last quick run to the right, because that seemed to be the side I was having much better luck with. With the palaeocarcha as my undisputed "trip maker", I would have been more than happy to have only found some more Sand Tigers on the last run. But Purse State Park was feeling extra generous that day. Searching high up onto the beach, I looked down to see a beautiful gold-colored Otodus tooth sitting right out in the open. It wasn't very large, but it was complete with both cusps and all. A true beauty. And if that wasn't enough, literally no more than 12 inches from that tooth I had just picked up was another big shark tooth! But this one wasn't an Otodus. No, it was ANOTHER Palaeocarcharodon! And this one was much bigger than my first! I couldn't believe that I found TWO of the most sought after tooth from the Paleocene Era. And with that, I left Purse State Park with a box filled to the brim with fossils. Overall, this trip was amazing! Perhaps even better than my first outing to Purse. I highly recommend going to this site if you love finding sharks teeth, and lots of them! Hoppe hunting!

Hello All! As you can see by the title of my post and the plethora of pictures to follow, I have been quite busy... busy fossil hunting that is! Since New Years I have been averaging at least one trip per weekend which is a good fix to distract myself from the less-than admirable weather (I just want spring!!!!!). This whole week is off for me since I'm off on Spring Break and that means I can go out hunting during the week to avoid the crowds which is always pleasant to get the beach to yourself. Also with the turn of the season and somewhat "warm" weather we have had I was able to launch my kayak for the first time this season this past weekend and I hope to make good use of my kayak. If any other members would like to hunt sometime feel free to message me (also anyone who wants to take me out on their boat I would take that offer too! ) I'll post a thread of my recent trips along with my more favorite finds and some fossil ID help. I'd also like to add that I have successfully taken over our family dining room and turned it into my own private fossil collection (sorry mom) and I love how it shows the true variety of teeth you can find as well as the differences in locations and the fauna you can find. The paper towels are all from recent trips and the plates are all from previous trips to Stratford Hall which I divided into plates for each different species.

The Mesozoic is an area that is sorely lacking in my collection. I don't know why, but I just never got around to collecting in it. I never fell in love with dinosaurs or mososaurs like a lot of other people. That was until fairly recently, when I finally took it upon myself to diversify my collection and get to know better my area's (and in some ways own backyard!) geology and paleontology. I set out to discover more about Maryland's Mesozoic Park. I guess it would be best to start off from the beginning. I started the journey not knowing what I'd find, but knowing what it was I hoped to find. I wanted a piece of the hallmark of the Mesozoic, the age of reptiles - my very own Old Line State dinosaur! There was only one problem - I didn't know where to find one. I knew generally what formations to look in, but not where, nor even what to look for. So I took up the ole' Google machine and my own literature at home and started uncovering more about where to start looking. That's what lead me to the first site. A TREK INTO THE TRIASSIC It would be disingenuous to say that I did this all by myself, and I would like to thank @WhodamanHD for helping me out tremendously. Without him I likely never would have gotten this together. For those who don't know, I'll take the liberty to describe the geology of the Free State. In Maryland, the only Triassic aged rocks exposed are those of the Newark Group, here divided by the Maryland Geological Survey into two formations - the New Oxford and the Gettysburg Shale. Both units are exposed in the Culpeper Basin (centered around the town of Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland) and the Gettysburg Basin (centered around, in Maryland, the town of Emmitsburg, Frederick County, Maryland). After several months of searching I was never able to find a good exposure near the famous former quarries around the Seneca region in Montgomery County, which is what lead me to the area near Frederick. Here the Triassic rocks are more readily exposed, with reports of numerous fossil discoveries of dinosaur footprints, plants, fish, and others in the area near Mt. St. Mary's University and Rocky Ridge. The Gettysburg Shale in this region is the most fossiliferous, and that is the one I ended up collecting in. Thanks again to @WhodamanHD for giving me info about the site! I spent a good hour or so at the Gettysburg Shale site, my mind full of images of that amazing Grallator sp. print I'd know I'd find. Unfortunately, as the shadows started growing and the day grew colder, I was forced to give up my quest without any dinosaur specimens from this unit. Still, it was nice to finally be able to collect in it and get to experience these amazing rocks up close and personal. The vast majority of the finds from this site were simple trace fossils of I assume to be annelid worms, these being most common in the glossy looking shale.

Hello All! I know I have been on the forum for quite awhile and have met some great people on TFF, but I realized I never properly introduced myself! I am from Northern Virginia and I have been fossil collecting ever since I was a little kid looking through the gravel at our house. I know that I may be younger than many of the other folks on this forum (only 17) but I love going out to the beach every time I get the opportunity. I primarily collected at Stratford Hall for awhile as I was growing up, but now that I can drive places myself I have been going to Calvert Cliffs a lot recently. So far in 2018 I have made some pretty cool finds and have checked off a number of fossils I was wanting to find, Including my first Cusped mako and Auriculatus! I appreciate all the ID help I have been getting and also the enthusiasm from other people who enjoy this hobby. I still am on the hunt for my first meg of 2018, but I feel it anyday now, but speaking of Megs I can tell you guys the story of my first and best megaladon tooth. After dozens of trips to Stratford Hall with not many "large" finds I was beginning to get frustrated with myself. It also didn't help by seeing all the people in the orange vests walk past the ropes and find multiple nice teeth over 1.5". So I went online and began searching and that is when I found Mid Atlantic Fossil Adventures. I saw that they ran trips at Stratford Hall and I was ecstatic to find out about this. I showed my mom and she also was excited to go so we booked a trip and even rented one of the cabins at Stratford Hall to spend the night. Finally, 3 weeks later we woke up at 6 am to get there and we were awake the entire way down. Luckily this trip didn't have too many people (about a dozen) so the beach wouldn't be too pressured. Of course, we chose to take the boat all the way to the far end of the cliffs and work our way back towards the beginning. This was my first time actually looking at the cliffs from the water and I was amazed by the scale of the tall cliffs. We looked and looked for hours and were finding dozens of smaller teeth and the occasional +1" hemi when we finally decided to sit for lunch on a big fallen tree that was washed up. Still determined with my quest to find a megaladon, I started walking through the water while I was eating my sandwich to increase my odds and also the wind had stopped and the water was glass clear. And then, right after picking up a piece of glass that looked SO convincing, my heart stopped. There I saw a perfect grey triangular shape sitting between two boulders, I surely thought it was a joke. I finally reached down and was shocked to actually feel the serrations of a meg tooth. Never had I ran so fast to bring my treasure and show my mom and we were both ecstatic. This was my only quality find of the trip, but I was blessed with my first Megaladon. The tooth measures a round 3 1/4" and has a beautiful tan color. It has very few dings, but there is a tiny chip on the tip. I love how it looks on the back with the orange coloring. I also included a tray of some of my better finds from Stratford Hall.

After a couple of weeks of us being under the weather from an Upper Respiratory Infection, Mrs.SA2 and I decided to take the dogs and visit one of our favorite places this past Saturday. Despite the forecast for rain, we both had a great day. But, the true measure of a successful day was achieved when the totally exhausted dogs slept the entire way home. As some of you may remember, I'm still playing catch up with Mrs.SA2 as she found 5 megalodon teeth in January. Saturday, I got my 2nd of 2018, about 10 mins after we started hunting. It's a gorgeous little "hubbell" meg with nice serrations and coloring. That gives us 7 megs so far in 2018. In just the few hours we were there, I found teeth from 11 different species of sharks. Here are a few of my larger ones. Mrs.SA2 had her own bag of goodies. I'll post some photos of them when she gets them cleaned up. Along with teeth, we also found a couple of those dreaded Miocene snails called Ecphora. Even more interesting, we found 2 different species of Ecphora about 10 feet from each other. I'm sure @Fossil-Hound and @sixgill pete can appreciate just how dreaded these Ecphora can be. Mrs.SA2 found 3 of them, but mine was the largest and most complete and is the oddball with only 3 whorls. Adding these 4 to her collection, Mrs.SA2 now has 59 Ecphora specimens from MD, VA and NC. The goal is to get around 100 specimens and then donate the collection for study and curation. All in all, it was a great day and Mrs.SA2 was happy. Happy wife, happy life!!!! Cheers, SA2 and Mrs.SA2

So... Okay, I just started getting into hunting for fossils. I've always loved fossils and gems and the lot. I went gem mining for the first time when I was about 10 or 11 in McKinley, VA, and since then - I've loved it! My family went on a trip to Cherokee and the Smoky Mtns when I was younger, and we found all kinds of unearthed fossilized things and gem mines. Saturday, we went to Westmoreland State Park up in Montross for the first time, and even though it was chilly and rainy, we found five or six decent shark teeth. I've done a little research, but I'd prefer what other people - and not articles - have to say. Where's the best places to find fossils in VA?

Relocating to FL a couple of years ago from VA incensed me to start hunting shark teeth, and then lo and behold I discovered that I could have been hunting in VA too. I had heard rumors of teeth at Stratford Hall as a kid but never followed up on it. So I finally had a trip back to VA and a chance to rush out to the beach, last minute I didn't have much time to plan but what better place to hunt fossils than "Fossil Beach", right? The visitor center had a nice display to fan the fever... Well it was a bit different that I expected. I was surprised to find the grey clay material and not as much rock as I see in the "in situ" photos other send from the area. Obviously this wasn't the honey hole I was hoping but some determined hunting did keep me from being skunked.

So I decided to venture outside of my comfort zone of Calvert Cliffs and head over to the Potomac at Purse State park. Low tide was right around 5pm so i decided to head over around 1 and walk for a while. I figured that since I was going late in the day that I would have lots of company on the beach. Well I was wrong on on having company on the beach and on the amount of time I would need to preform a good search. I got to the parking lot and empty I quickly got on my gear and made the mile hike down to the beach. I was very happy to see that there were no footprints anywhere the water was low and super calm. I decided to head to the north first and was very happy to find 2 crocodile teeth because not many are found at my normal stomping grounds. I then decided to fill up a bag of shells for mom because she loves shells and there was an abundance at this beach. I then turned my attention to the south and was rewarded with a pristine otodus and a nice paraorthacodus clarkii a nice cretolamna and some other fantastic teeth my knowledge of the paleocene is not as it is on the miocene. Well i walked all the way to the point when i noticed the sun starting to disappear and realized i still had a 1/2 mile walk back to the trail and another mile back to my truck. I could have spent another 4 hours searching well i will know better for next time. I have also included my past couple of trips along the cliffs my best finds from over there were a couple of stunning ecphoras, a few megalodons, and a hadrodelphis that is my first all in all february has been treating me very well.

While finishing up with my identifications from my trip to Purse State Park, I noticed two that I thought I could use some help on. The first is a nearly complete tooth that I believe to be that of O. obliquus because it has a bit of a bourlette, but I could be wrong. It seems far too long and slender to be from Otodus, but I'm not sure what else it would be from. I'm personally hoping that I'm correct because Otodus teeth are always awesome finds, but I'll be interested to see your take on it. When it comes to the second of the two, I don't even know where to start. It's very tiny, and has a root unlike any tooth I've every seen. the protuberance on the root is about as long as the crown, which makes it look totally bizarre. The top of the tooth looks like an arched "V" or like a banana peel. The root is wide and flat. My best guess for this one would be a baby Sand Tiger shark tooth (either from Striatolamia or Carcharias), or perhaps even a pathological tooth. As always, any help would be much appreciated. Hoppe hunting!

Hi all, This little fragment was one of my many finds at my first trip to Purse State Park. I've posted a trip report; go check it out if you haven't already. Although I found hundreds of fossils, I had very little trouble with identification as the formations at Purse only yield a handful of fossil species. But this one strange fragment has got me stumped. It's about 3/4 of an inch and pretty thin. One side is very bumpy with a small, smooth protrusion in the middle. The other side is very smooth with no bumps but some very tiny holes. It looks somewhat similar to a few of the crocodile and turtle fossils found along the Maryland Potomac coast that I've seen online. My best guess is that it is a scute of some kind due to the protrusion on the bumpy side, or perhaps a skull fragment. Again, I'm really not sure with this one. Any help would be much appreciated. It's always exciting to find something a little different! Thanks. Hoppe hunting!

There are so many testaments to Purse State Park being a fantastic fossil collecting site online, and because of this I thought I’d go there myself and test my luck. I kept on hearing about quantity, and how Purse yields more fossil sharks teeth per trip than just about any other local site. I was blown away when reading that people come home from a single trip with hundreds of teeth, and of decent size and quality too! And so a few days before Christmas, I packed up my gear and made my way across the border and down the Potomac to Purse State Park.The drive there was just fine, and the park is very secluded, unlike some other common sites. Perhaps its isolation contributes to its lack of a crowd in comparison to the Calvert Cliffs. The park is quite difficult to find as it is not clearly marked; I actually drove past it at first and had to turn around! The parking lot is on the left side of the road, and you have to cross the road to get to the trail. The hike is a little under a mile, which can be a pain if you have a lot of gear. It’s also practically in the middle of nowhere, so be cautious. Eventually, you’ll find yourself on a very nice little beach along the Potomac River. The cliffs run along the majority of the beach, and you can even see the exposed shells and cliff mix in the lower layers of some parts. In terms of area, this site is astonishing! There is at the very least a mile of beach, not to mention the fact that you can venture far past that thanks to the high tide line law in Maryland. You really could just keep walking, and I did just that, but even then I couldn’t cover all of the area even in the eight or nine hours that I hunted. If your looking for a place to hunt where there’s more beach than you know what to do with, head down to Purse.The fossils found here are from the Paleocene Era, much older than the Miocene exposures at the Calvert Cliffs. They are approximately 60 million years old, which is nearly dinosaur aged! One area where Purse does lack, however, is variety. Although you may find loads of teeth, they will all likely belong to only a handful of species unlike the Calvert Cliffs that yield hundreds of different species. This being said, the species found at Purse State Park are fascinating. The majority of teeth found will be those of extinct Sand Tiger Sharks, although you are able to find ray plates and mackerel shark teeth as well. Maybe you'll even be lucky enough to uncover a dreaded Otodus!I got to the park just a few minutes after sunrise, making for a beautiful sight. Once I began searching, I quickly learned that my shovel and sifter were rendered near useless, as I was finding teeth left and right by simply using my eyes. Surface hunting allowed me to cover a lot more distance in a lot shorter time, and I also began developing an eye for sharks teeth; there were a few time I spotted a nice tooth with only the root showing in the gravel or sand! The air temperature was not too bad, but the water was absolutely frigid and I had to take multiple breaks to avoid losing feeling in my hands completely. I tried to cover as much beach as possible without going too fast and missing teeth, and I was quite successful in doing so. To the left of the entrance, I walked for at least a mile finding tons of teeth, and I eventually stumbled upon a large and complete Turritella mold! I had found tiny fragments towards the entrance, but I was ecstatic with this find. But then, I found another. And another. When I looked up I realized I was standing right by a multitude of cliff falls that were full of these Gastropod fossils! There were hundreds of them, both in the rocks and freshly washed into the surf beneath them. I picked up the prettiest ones I could find, even carefully prying one out of the matrix. As sunset approached, I had found hundreds of fossils including teeth, plates, molds, and possible bones (turned out to be pseudofossils). But aside from some good sized sand tigers, I didn’t have anything too spectacular. But in the last hour of searching, I turned over an object that was mostly buried in the sand. To my delight, it was a nearly complete Otodus tooth! My first relatively large tooth, and a great way to end a great day of hunting! Otodus obliquus was a giant shark, nearly 35 feet in length, that was likely the ancestor to megatooth sharks like Megalodon. And since Megalodon was not alive during the Paleocene, I’d argue that finding a tooth from its great great Grandpa is just as cool! And with that, I found another handful or two of teeth on the way back to my bag and began to leave as the sun set over the horizon. On the way out, I got to share my finds with a family who was walking their dog along the beach. They were the only other people I saw in the park all day long; other than that I had the site to myself. I said a big thank you to Purse State Park, and hit the road.In total, I found an incredible 619 sharks teeth, along with over 50 other fossils! Like I said, this site delivers when it comes to quantity. Some of my favorite finds are the large Otodus in the middle, the Turritella, and the long and complete Sand Tigers. I was only able to display so many teeth before my space was overcrowded, and I had to put the rest in a pile. I am beyond happy with the results from this trip; it was by far my most productive trip yet. I hope you all enjoy seeing my finds and hearing my report, and I hope you’ll pay a visit to Purse! As always, Hoppe Hunting!

This tooth was found at my trip to Stratford Hall in Montross, VA on December 2nd. I found it laying out in the open among some pebbles. It’s in great condition, but I had some trouble identifying it as it looks quite different from most of the teeth I have found. The roots look as if someone peelled open a banana, and the crown extends very high up the root. There seem to be some very worn serrations on the tooth as well. After some research, I believe it to most likely be from Carcharhinus brachyurus, or Copper/Bronze Whaler shark, although I’m still not sure. I’d really appreciate some input from more experienced collectors who have a better eye. Thanks, and Hoppe fossil hunting!

Hello all! My name is David Hoppe, and like many others I’ve been an avid dinosaur enthusiast since I was very young. As I’ve grown older, my love for prehistoric life on earth has only strengthened. Since I am finishing up high school right now and beginning to look at colleges and think about my future, I even considered going into a career in Paleonotlogy. Unfortunately after doing some research, I concluded it may be better to simply make a hobby out of it. More fun, less stress! So here I am, just starting to collect my first samples of extinct creatures. I live in Northern Virginia, not too far from the Capital. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to live in such an outstanding location; Virginia (and Maryland of course) is home to so many prime sites for fossil collecting! Along the coast of the Chesapeake, as well as the rivers that branch from it, you’re bound to find some fossils if you know where and when to look. So far I have taken one trip to Calvert Cliffs, and another to the Potomac River (I’ll be posting trip reports for both very soon), and got some decent finds. I figure as I become more experienced, my collection will grow in quantity and quality! I look forward to becoming an active member of this community, which by the way I have been using as reference for a little while (so many nice and knowledgeable people!). I can’t wait to share my finds, and see yours as well! Hoppe fossil hunting!

Beautiful day on the river today, warm temperatures and a good low tide! I took my family out today and let them have at it, all I did was walk along with them and try to point out teeth to my youngest step-daughter who was with us for this Thanksgiving weekend...and they did quite well! My wife found a nice Meg that she took delight in ribbing me over since we had already walked past where she found it. We even ran into @SailingAlongToo today as he was out on the river in his boat, that boat certainly gets a workout every weekend! Their total haul My step-daughter's haul Another step-daughter's haul My wife's finds Better picture of the Meg The Meg again...she was ecstatic to find this on her own Croc tooth found by my step-daughter, her first out of the Miocene. My step-daughter with her prized find, I didn't point this out to her, she found it all on her own. She has plans of putting this in a case and hanging it in her room.

I've never been to Popes Creek on the Maryland side and wondered how people hunt there. Must you use a boat or can you drive and park there? Google maps doesn't show any good areas to park as I have read to stay away from the restaurants. Is it all private land? Do folks hunt north or south of the restaurants?

What a cool day! A bunch of us did a beach clean up on the Virginia side of the Potomac River on Saturday and along with the trash, we picked up some of those triangle-shaped "litter" as well. @SailingAlongToo piloted his boat around to ferry us from beach to beach, and his wife who is still recovering from a broken arm joined us out there as well. By the time the day was over, the entire front of his boat was covered in trash bags that we filled up from about 3 1/2 miles of beach. We had a beautiful day to be out there and spied numerous eagles cruising around, and even one making a meal of a striped bass. Before I get to the fossils, I have to mention the coolest piece of trash that I picked up. As you can expect, there were plenty of bottles that has washed up on the various beaches. One of the bottles I reached down and grabbed had something in it, as I looked closer I noticed that there was a paper with writing in it. I opened it up and read a letter from a 4 year old boy named Levi who put his message in a bottle on January 11, 2016. The letter instructed the finder to call his mom or grandmother, so on my way home I did and chatted with a mother who did not know about the letter but was crying when I read it to her. I was glad that I made the call, it really made my day. Now to the fossils, we all found some nice stuff while we were out there. I wish that I took some pictures of the finds that the others had because there were some really coo things found. One woman reached down to pick up some trash and spied a root next to it...out came a beautiful Meg! I ended up finding a nice Mako when I tried to carry 8 bottles back to a bag and dropped one...right on top of the Mako! LOL! Some pictures from our adventure. Our eagle chomping down on the striper. I also have a video of this that I will try to post. Eagle tracks Jellyfish were everywhere, I blindly reached out to grab a piece of clear plastic that was in my peripheral vision and stuck my hand into a jellyfish...definite "eewww" factor! My haul for the day The tooth on the right was courtesy of dropping the bottle, the one on the left was the last tooth I found. Mako in a little drainage The message from the bottle

I wasn't expecting to get out today but luckily my work got done early enough that I could run over to the river and take advantage of a low tide. I usually go upriver but at the last second I decided to go downriver. I basically went for a speed walk, only stopping for the bigger teeth...though I would snatch up the small ones if they were near to the one I was stopping for. On my way back I ran into another fossil hunter and he quickly asked whether I was on the forum or not, I'm happy to say that I have met @Castle Rock! We had a nice conversation, I like running into forum members and being able to put a face to the name. Apparently he had gone out with @Boneheadz earlier in the day. Hey @Castle Rock, I left you a marker (arrow in the sand) to show you the path up, did you see it? Great meeting you today, let me know the next time you are in the area and we can get together for a planned hunt. I can't say it was a banner day but it was enjoyable to be out there for a little bit. Here's the results from today:

I finally have time to post a report from last weekends trip. My wife wanted to take the boys to Washington DC to see the monuments and visit the museum. She said we could go fossil hunting for a day. So I chose Purse state park since I have only been there once. We stayed in Waldorf, arriving late friday night. Saturday morning we headed to the Potomac. We ended up at Douglas point. I didn't know at the time that it was a mile and a half to get to the beach! My wife and kids were crabbing when they realized what a walk it was. Once we got to the beach everyone was happy. I really liked it there and immediately started searching. I found a couple small teeth right away. My boys just wanted to swim for awhile but soon joined in on the hunt. A guy walked by we spoke for a minute and then he left. A couple seconds later he yells over to me and points out a big black snake climbing vertically up the cliff! It was a very cool sight! The gentleman left and we got back to the hunt. My wife finally joined us and we all were finding teeth. And there were tons of rayplates. After awhile the same gentleman came back and asked how we were doing. Then he pulls out the biggest Otodus I have ever seen. He said he just pulled it out of a debris pile. The tooth was so huge. Extremely thick blade and root. It was missing one cusp and part of the root, but still impressive. Of course that got the blood flowing. So we all got hunting, but no huge teeth for us. The highlight for me was finding my first croc tooth. Though not big it is complete and is not waterworn. Its between 3/8-1/2 inch. Then I found a bigger one but this was very beatup. We stayed for about three hours and then we all got hungry and decided to get lunch. When I got back to the car I looked down and noticed a tick on my calf! Luckily I noticed it before it bit me, so it was easy to remove! The next day we drove to DC and saw the sites. The highlight for me was the Museum of Natural History. Mainly because it has all the Gem and fossils. It even has a super nice Dipleura from New York! After we got back to the hotel, My wife said that on monday she wanted to do something before we headed home so I suggested going to Flag Ponds Nature Park. We didn't find a lot of teeth but I did find tons of coral. The boys were content with swimming until Devin got stung by a jellyfish! At that point it was time to go. All in all it was a very nice time to spend with family. Though short, it was sweet. I wish I would have taken more pics, but I always get too caught up in the moment. I hope you enjoy the ones I did take.

So I had just posted on this forum a few hours ago and that reminded me of one more thing I've been longing to figure out. Does anyone know what fish this vertabrae belongs to? It's the most complete and intact fish vert I've ever found, so I think it's important I get some info on it! Thanks, Conor

Found this one up towards popes creek on the Potomac river on the Maryland side. I've found a lot of bones but never one looking quite like this. I'm guessing whale or porpoise? I normally just find vertabrae or bone fragments. Although it looks a lot like a vertebrae. If anyone knows what this bone is I'd appreciate it. Thanks, Conor

The kids (8 and 5), wanted to surprise my wife for her birthday and take her shark tooth hunting ( fortunately for me, my wife loves doing this!). While Brownies is our favorite spot, because of having the kids along and the cost to get into Brownies right now, we decided to go to Purse. We really like it down there and it's a lot safer for the kids. We ended up doing really well, 576 total teeth. Granted, most of them are small but we had a great time. Found my biggest Otodus so far. Unfortunately it's not complete. Also found 2 pygmy white shark teeth, and a paleohypotodus, both new finds for us. Great trip, great day to be on the water hunting. Just wish we lived closer!

My kids wanted to make today special so they all wanted to take me to the river and search for teeth along side me...they know how to make me happy! We only stayed for a couple of hours since it was extremely hot and the finds weren't as numerous...I think we will have to start heading up river to the Aquia formation for the rest of the summer, more and more people are showing up on this beach and piles of sifted material is all over. Anyway, we all had fun and despite not finding a whole lot, we did get some cool finds and some interesting unknowns. Total haul Best tooth, love Makos. Dolphin tooth I believe that this is a puffer fish mouth plate (side 1) Side 2 Here's an unknown that I was about to cast off as a rock but then looked at it closer...I'm thinking some sort of coral, ay thoughts? (side 1) Side 2 Find of the day goes to my daughter, she found this tooth and brought it over to me because it "looked weird"...I believe this is a pathologic tooth. I looked at it under my digital microscope and it doesn't look as though it is split. The other side My wife found this and I was about to throw it away as being a random bone piece, then I saw the circular marks in it. Any ideas? Opposite side All-in-all it was an awesome day! My family made it special...even stopped for some fresh strawberry shortcake on the way home! Hope all of the fathers out there had as good of a day as I had!

Our family of 3 attended the special event that was held at Stratford Hall yesterday. Dr. Weems was the guest speaker. This was our second year participating in the event. I liked it being in June instead of August this year. It was warm but not as hot as August. Tides were decent. Here is what the three of us managed to find. (Pretty good day) Can't wait for next year.