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Hello All, This is my first time posting here, so I hope I'm doing this right. I did my best to crop the pictures I have and hope I've included what's needed. During our annual Thanksgiving trip, a friend of mine found what appears to be a large whale vertebrae on 11/26/22 in the Monterey Bay Area, between Seacliff Beach and New Brighton Beach in Aptos. Based on the known sea mammals that pass through these parts and a quick Google search, it looks to be a Humpback vertebrate, but there’s also the Blue Whale, Gray Whale, Fin Whale and Killer Whale. My guess is a Humpback, but that's just a hunch. It was found about 8-10” under the sand, just after high tide. At first, he thought it might be a tree stump or part of an anchor. It was pretty far up the beach, closer to the walkway than the beach water. The surrounding sand was damp and the bone still needs to dry since it’s been under water/wet sand for who knows how long(?). There is a gift shop nearby and they have fossilized bones, including one that’s a humpback vertebrae and it’s a lot smaller than the one found. It did say in the visitors center that these fossils have been found in the area that date back 2-5 million years. It seems improbable in my mind that this found one is anywhere near that old, but I’m a complete newbie to this. Thankfully, this forum looks like the ideal place to ask these questions. Is there a way to tell either how old or large the whale was, based off this information? Also, is there a particular method used to dry these out and get it back to its natural ivory color? I read that leaving it in the sun will bleach it, but I’m assuming that takes a while to do. Here are the measurements and pictures. If more specific pictures need to be added, let me know and I'll have them snap what's needed. Widest point: ~21” (side to side) Diameter of center: ~13.5-14” (one side is a little wider than the other) Depth: ~9.5-10” Thank you all in advance, Jason

Are there any Santa Margarita fm fossil sites that are still open/able to be collected from in and around the SF Bay Area? I want to try and hunt from the formation but all the classic sites, like bean creek, are now closed for collecting.

Tonight, I was trying to pull up directions for a friend to the wonderful astrodapsis collection site in scotts valley...seems that this site has been posted with no trespassing signs...as indicated by a few posts i've seen online..if this is indeed true...its a loss of a valuable site...its an area that was collector friendly for kids and beginners...it was a wonderful spot that started many collections..I will miss this spot.

I found this on the beach in capitola ca right under the cliffs, any ideas what it could be? its approximately 7 inches and it is still covered in a pretty thin layer of stone but the shape is still mostly clear.

Hi there, I have a collection of Santa Cruz, CA shell hash, from the Purisima Formation. It’s pretty much all non-mineralized mollusks, I think. I received a new piece that seems to be from the same formation (it was a gift from the heir of the original collector who lived in Monterey - the other side of the bay from the formation). The fossiliferous pieces inside this one have a totally different structure - much more of a radial/flakey look. I circled it in red in the first picture, and it’s the only rock in pics 3-6. I’d love to here if anyone has any thoughts on whether the new piece is Purisima, and what the white portions may have been. Thanks for reading!

My kids founds this fossil in Capitola, as part of the Purisima formation. Curious if it's something obvious enough for you pros out there?

I recently went to Capitola beach for the first time. I found three of what I believe are cetacean fossils but I am very new to paleontology so I am not quite sure. These were found right on the beach under cliffs in the Purisima Formation. The images are quite large so I will post them in the comments Here is #1

i found this fossil plant in the Santa cruz mountains i cant identify the plant here are both sides of it.