Baleen Whale Jaw Section, Triple Crab Concretion, And Other Recent Finds

[hokiehunter]

(Note... This post has been edited... twice now.)

I was able to get out a few times over the past few days. Nothing super special but I did manage a few neat things (edit... Wrong... I did find something super special. I wasn't sure so I didn't include it in my original post but it has now been Identified by the forum as a triple crab concretion so I feel comfortable including as such now. Pics attached ).

First off was the dead eagle (see my post in the general topic forum). It's always cool to get an up close look at a large bird of prey even if it's dead. The eagle actually led me to my next find. A few feet away from him was a recent cliff fall. On the exterior surface of one of the giant cube like chunks of clay was a partial baleen whale jaw (Edit: Thanks for the correction below Metopocetus. I had originally thought this was a rib section). The section measures 32 inches and for me drives home the scale of the whale that were swimming around during the miocene. Usually you only find 6 to 12" sections so to find an almost 3 foot section was a treat.

Next up are the usual teeth. A mix of megs, hemis, and makos. No great megs this time but two of the hemis and two of the makos were really nice (especially the lower mako).

All in all it was a great couple of days and has me looking forward to my next trip in a few weeks.

Edited March 3, 2013 by hokiehunter

[Metopocetus]

That is actually a partial mandible (lower jaw) of a baleen whale. Do you know what bed it came from?

[hokiehunter]

Whoa... neat. I hadn't even thought of it like that but you are dead on. Thank you. Not sure of the exact layer but it is from the Calvert formation middle Miocene.

All of the sudden that piece just got a lot cooler to me. Unfortunately the other side of the block this came from was exploded in the fall and has already washed out. That section of jaw was all that was left.

[Boesse]

Second that. Some kind of a balaenopteroid or cetotheriid mandible - it's in the Parietobalaena size range. Unfortunately the other end is the important part.

[obsessed1]

That is a great couple of days haul! You have several once in a lifetime finds. Great stuff!!

[RickNC]

Like the crabs. That is a killer lower mako.

[hokiehunter]

That is a great couple of days haul! You have several once in a lifetime finds. Great stuff!!

Thanks Kevin, yeah... only really sinking in now how nice the crabs and whale jaw section are. I get so hung up on big megs and makos that sometimes I need to step back and get a day or two of perspective to realize how nice a trip really was.

[hokiehunter]

Like the crabs. That is a killer lower mako.

Thanks Rick. The mako should never have been. I struggled to find any decent teeth over the 3 days I collected. The mako was found on a day I was 3rd or 4th on the beach which usually spells strikeout. It was high and dry in a section of beach that was nothing but fine sand. I'm not sure how the others missed it. It was sitting up next to the cliff all alone and stuck out like a sore thumb. I almost fell over the thing I was so startled by it being there.

[hokiehunter]

Second that. Some kind of a balaenopteroid or cetotheriid mandible - it's in the Parietobalaena size range. Unfortunately the other end is the important part.

Thanks for narrowing the technical ID down Bobby. Much appreciated.

[MikeDOTB]

Awesome variety! That baleen whale jaw is awesome!

[cowsharks]

Jason, awesome stuff there - and a crab trifecta too! Neat assortment of finds; especially love the Mako and whale jaw section. So sad to see my favorite bird laying there on the beach though

Daryl.

[Terry Dactyll]

I've never heard of a triple crab nodule... Must be very rare... well done...

[Auspex]

I've never heard of a triple crab nodule... Must be very rare... well done...

In my experience with that formation, it is unprecedented! Lots of stray pincher tips, and the occasional eroded single nodule, but a multiple in matrix (non-nodular) is beyond unusual.