Sonickmonx Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 I have a slightly different hunting trip breakdown today. @Fin Lover alerted me around Christmas to some bits of turtle shell that were exposed in a creek near Charleston, SC. My excitement was killing me as I was out of town for the week, and everything was closed for the holidays so I couldn't start to search for landowner permission to explore a potential excavation if enough of the specimen was there. Thankfully once things reopened I managed to get in touch with the land owners and get approval the night before I returned to Charleston. I went out on the 30th and found there was shell spread over an area about 4'x4'. That day began the tedious and arduous process of removing it. This was my first large scale excavation, and I definitely underestimated just how much work it would involve! It was a total of about 25 hours of hard work for me over a week and help from multiple friends. It arrived safely at the Charleston Museum and I am now working on prepping it during my volunteer time and I/Fin will keep the forum updated as progress continues! Until then, enjoy some pictures of the excavation and of the current preparation progress, including the discovery of part of the skull. December 30th - First day of excavation, the sandbag wall and preliminary trench is done January 4th - 4th day of excavation, the trench is complete January 5th - 5th day of excavation. Undercutting was done, from here it was wrapped and taken out of the creek and gotten into my truck. January 8th - Arrival at the Charleston Museum You can see all the shell that was just sitting on top of the jacket, with tons more just under the surface. I also found the skull, which Fin posted previously. 5 27 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bockryan Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Nicely done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 4 hours ago, Sonickmonx said: I have a slightly different hunting trip breakdown today. @Fin Lover alerted me around Christmas to some bits of turtle shell that were exposed in a creek near Charleston, SC. My excitement was killing me as I was out of town for the week, and everything was closed for the holidays so I couldn't start to search for landowner permission to explore a potential excavation if enough of the specimen was there. Thankfully once things reopened I managed to get in touch with the land owners and get approval the night before I returned to Charleston. I went out on the 30th and found there was shell spread over an area about 4'x4'. That day began the tedious and arduous process of removing it. This was my first large scale excavation, and I definitely underestimated just how much work it would involve! It was a total of about 25 hours of hard work for me over a week and help from multiple friends. It arrived safely at the Charleston Museum and I am now working on prepping it during my volunteer time and I/Fin will keep the forum updated as progress continues! Until then, enjoy some pictures of the excavation and of the current preparation progress, including the discovery of part of the skull. Fantastic job... I see that you are an individual of great intelligence !!! I am hoping for lots of photos of bones.. I had great difficulty identifying a Sea Turtle bone I found last May in a Florida creek. A question.. This was my 1st Sea Turtle bone, I had ever found !!! and I found it in a creek in South Florida... I wondered ... Exactly how did that bone get there. So similar question here.. How did the entire turtle get in the creek ? Swimming in 200 feet of salt water, dies and sinks to the bottom, or a female dies while laying eggs on a beach, Any chance of an insight? Thanks The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonickmonx Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 Thanks for the comment @Shellseeker, I guess I can buy im above average intelligence if trucks are any indicator I hope to find some bones, but bones are quite rare. The scapula was sitting right on top of it all so there’s a possibility but who knows. On the topic of deposition - the formation this is found in was ocean, about 200 feet deep or so. The animal would have died in the open ocean and sank to the bottom. We usually don’t find bones or skulls since those are the parts easily scavenged or washed away, so that makes the skull being mixed in with the shell quite the exciting find. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Amazing find. 1 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 @Sonickmonx: You really have good eyes..., at the first pics I though, what have you found there.... But, now I see it is a really really amazing find! I remember when I found my first nearly complete turtle 40 years ago, could not believe it well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonickmonx Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 @rocket Thanks for the kind words. All credit goes to @Fin Lover for bringing the fossil to my attention and trusting me with its extraction. I was really impressed with how much was there and can’t wait to see it all come together! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin Lover Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 (edited) Here are some pictures under water of what it looked like when I sent it to @Sonickmonx. By this point, I had already scraped away some matrix to see how much was there, but I still had no idea what all he'd find. It would definitely still be in the creek (or destroyed by others) if not for @Sonickmonx. This is above my pay grade and both logistically and physically difficult for me to deal with. And thank you to some of my other forum friends who helped me figure out what it was to begin with! 😉 Edited January 23 by Fin Lover 1 11 Fin Lover My favorite things about fossil hunting: getting out of my own head, getting into nature and, if I’m lucky, finding some cool souvenirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balance Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Thanks for posting those!! I was wondering exactly that! “What did it look like when discovered?” I can now correctly assume I might have been someone who ruined it by stepping on it because I can tell with the hindsight but no way day of. This is really cool! Jp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 @Fin Lover Erin, great eye in spotting this and great judgement on bringing in the "experts" to get it excavated, documented and donated properly. I agree with your assesment that if not for you, this would have deteriorated naturally or gotten destroyed by others. 1 1 1 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin Lover Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 @Balance, I saw probably this much before I scraped some away: If not for the bone, I would have just kept walking. Thank you all for the compliments! 1 5 1 Fin Lover My favorite things about fossil hunting: getting out of my own head, getting into nature and, if I’m lucky, finding some cool souvenirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Great job on a great project. Question.,.. how do you ID it as a sea turtle? Can I assume because it is marine deposits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Looking forward to the ongoing prep reports 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonickmonx Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 @jpc we identified it as such as it is in a deep marine depositional environment (200 feet plus in depth). There are a few known sea turtles from this deposit, and this one compares favorably to a described one so provisionally I am assuming it is that species, unless proved otherwise during preparation. @sixgill pete “Professional” is giving me too much credit, but I certainly am on my way and this was an awesome project early in my career to build confidence and knowledge. I am very thankful she gave me the opportunity to learn and rescue this turtle. Thankfully I do have a network of professionals that guided me through the process, or else I’m sure it would still be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin Lover Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 (edited) 2 hours ago, jpc said: Great job on a great project. Question.,.. how do you ID it as a sea turtle? Can I assume because it is marine deposits? I had someone ask Bobby and he IDed it as such. Edited January 23 by Fin Lover Fin Lover My favorite things about fossil hunting: getting out of my own head, getting into nature and, if I’m lucky, finding some cool souvenirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 If Bobby says so, it is. Deep marine deposits are also a great clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Great thread. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andúril Flame of the West Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Congrats @Sonickmonx and @Fin Lover! Great story and a wonderful donation. In my view I would be far more thrilled to find such a specimen than a perfect cow shark or meg tooth! Just curious, how did you manage to get the block into the truck bed? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonickmonx Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 (edited) Thanks for the comment @Andúril Flame of the West. We used a Jeep to drag it (on the sled) along the creek bottom and up the bank. From there it took 4 able bodied men using all their might to push and pull it up into the bed using 2x4's as a ramp. Was not an easy feat by any means! Edited January 25 by Sonickmonx 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patelinho7 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Great teamwork! What a find, and in a somewhat difficult environment, too. I cannot imagine having to get around the water. Pretty cool! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Mighty awesome find!!..amazing story already. Look forward to see it getting written up. I noticed what appears to be a deep vein pattern and maybe some polygons which made me want to see more...a real closeup. I pasted that pattern in your find on the left in the image below against a Chelonid sea turtle fragment on the right that I have. I'm certainly jumping to conclusions from a blurry image and cant wait to hear what genus/species it turns out to be... Congrats on whatever it turns out to be!!! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonickmonx Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 Thanks for the comment @Plantguy. It does appear to be a Chelonid, likely Ashleychelys. I’ll update in the future when I know a bit more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Looking forward to prep pics "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjfriend Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Such a cool find and story of recovery! Glad it was rescued for donation. Can't wait to see more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andúril Flame of the West Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 On 1/24/2024 at 8:46 PM, Sonickmonx said: Thanks for the comment @Andúril Flame of the West. We used a Jeep to drag it (on the sled) along the creek bottom and up the bank. From there it took 4 able bodied men using all their might to push and pull it up into the bed using 2x4's as a ramp. Was not an easy feat by any means! Doesn't sound like it at any rate, especially with all the wet mud and matrix. Congrats again and I'm really looking forward to updates on this thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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