Mayport Report 11/10/2013

[vmarsh]

Well I've been wanting to get out to Mayport! So, today was the day. I conducted a 4 hour survey of the north end of the Mayport Beach. Location was between these four map points 30.395161,-81.392922; 30.394876,-81392020; 30.397217,-81390612; and 30.396939,-81.392701. Low tide was at 0721. I start my search at 0800, looking through the shell spoil. The spoil seem to run the entire distance of the beach decreasing as one heads north towards the jetties. I spent the first two hours going through the spoil (DRY) approximately 28000 square meters. I took a break to wait for the tide to start the wash of the spoil (WET) during which I focused on the leading edge of the spoil pacing back and forth -- about a 150 meter run.

I would not say it was the best hunting ground but i feel further investigation is in order. During my next trip I will survey the next sector heading south.

I did have two great non-shark finds today. A 1.0 Diameter X 1.25W X .625H vertebrae and 1.0W X 1.5H X .375 Thick mammal tooth (I think).

My Findings:

Lower Density than Ponte Vedra Beach.

Larger teeth than JAX Beach.

More tooth damage.

High level of oyster shell in the area.

[vmarsh]

To finish up my day I headed out to Ponte Vedra for a quick walk-about. Here are the results:

[mrieder79]

Wow! You scored good today. It's hard to tell what the object in the first position from Mayport is. Is that a tooth frag? Nice teeth all around. I'll be hitting ponte vedra before work tomorrow around low tide. I'll post the results.

[vmarsh]

Wow! You scored good today. It's hard to tell what the object in the first position from Mayport is. Is that a tooth frag? Nice teeth all around. I'll be hitting ponte vedra before work tomorrow around low tide. I'll post the results.

The first tooth fragment is serrated. Based on length, thickness, and curvature I believe it would have been a good size Meg. As we discussed, that location is the dredge spoil for the base; that would account for the higher damage. The substrate is sandy silt, low tide, dry hunting is best, once the tide starts coming in objects quickly disappear under the silt.

Good luck on your hunt this morning - I'm heading back to Mayport to do a quick walk through of the area I covered yesterday and then move south and survey the next section of beach.

[mrieder79]

Hope you find some big ones.

[vmarsh]

Almost skunked at Mayport today. Found one fragmented Tiger, one interesting piece of Turtle, and a small bone fragment that interested me. I think I'll give Mayport a rest until after the next big storm.

As for the rest of the beach at Mayport. As I searched south of the north access point there was less and less indicators of fossil. By the time I was 100 meter south I found no indicators of fossil. I continued for another ~500 meter south and found no teeth nor fragments of other fossils. The North end was more productive; however, a quick walk through (1 hour) was less than productive. Being fair though, I did notice that someone had conducted a dedicated search of the area prior to my arrival.Footprints indicated a tight search pattern.

[mrieder79]

Sorry to hear that. I never like getting skunked. It must have been exciting the last time you hit Mayport when you found the Meg frag. I always get excited when I find those.

[FossilDudeCO]

wow nice finds! I really like the one in the first row, far right in the first pic, what is it?

[jcbshark]

Your unknown in the top pic bottom right looks like it may be the side of a horse tooth.To be sure you would need a view of the chewing surface.

Edited November 12, 2013 by jcbshark

[vmarsh]

wow nice finds! I really like the one in the first row, far right in the first pic, what is it

More than likely it is a Bull Shark tooth.

[vmarsh]

Your unknown in the top pic bottom right looks like it may be the side of a horse tooth.To be sure you would need a view of the chewing surface.

Here you go:

[jcbshark]

To be honest I think it is but I'm no expert.If you would like to know for sure take a couple pics and put them in the Id section.There are a few guys on here that are very good at telling you the original owner and even tooth position.Good luck and nice find regardless.Take care,Jeff