Sh0n Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 So, I've been going to Calvert Cliffs since I was a little kid, and was always warned to stay on the beach and not go beneath the cliffs. I haven't been there in a few years and plan on going soon. I've been seeing some different posts on some fossil websites of people hunting beneath the cliffs, and I was wondering if anyone here has done so, and, if they have, have you encountered any issues, whether it be falling material or park rangers yelling at you. I'd like to try hunting over there and just want t know what I can expect. Thanks for any useful information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessed1 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I have in the past and will continue in the future to hunt in front of the cliffs. But by doing so I am putting myself at a certain level of risk. The photo below shows what can happen in a matter of seconds. Literally, just seconds before this dropped I had walked between where you see my rake and the cliff face. If I had still been there when it fell I probably wouldn't be typing this now. I am not telling you this to discourage you but just to inform you of what could happen. Like many things in life there are dangers. Each person has to decide for himself if they are comfortable accepting the risk or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunt4teeth Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Looking at that picture, I would image 2 different reactions (1) time to go or (2) a lot "fresh" fossils just came tumbling down. I would image a fresh fall is fair game if you are willing to take the risk. Obsessed1 may I ask your reaction, and if (2), what did you find? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Unless you are in an area posted against trespassing, the only other serious legal no-no to avoid is digging in the cliff ( and by "digging", I mean removing anything from the consolidated face of the cliff). "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Looks GREAT/ exciting, but dangerous. And I too would like to see your finds from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowsharks Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 A lot of folks are wary about collecting near/in front of the cliffs, and for good reason, erosion. Each rain storm loosens more of the cliff face and just last weekend I actually got to watch, from a short distance of about 100ft away, a large section break loose and come crashing down. I first heard what I call a "trickling" sound of loose dirt falling. When I turned around to see where it was coming from I looked up at the source and saw a large section of the cliff face slowly pulling away and within a second it broke loose and came crashing down. A few other fossil collectors on the opposite side much further also saw/heard it. I've been collecting along the cliffs for many years and like to think I know where and when it is safe, but to be honest, it is so unpredictable. Conditions are worse in the winter and after rain storms. It's not for the faint hearted. You need to be on your toes at all times. If you saw one of the current huge falls/piles along one area of cliffs where I collect, you would see that it extends almost 60 ft out into the water. There's no way you could outrun a pile of that magnitude fast enough because you can't run through knee/waist deep water very fast. As Obsessed said, this isn't meant to discourage you, but to inform you. Whether you're at the cliffs, riding in a boat, or walking along the beach, there are always dangers of some sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sh0n Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) Ah. I'm just seeing on some sites say that it is illegal to search beneath the cliffs, but then I see that plenty of people do it anyway. Just wondering if anyone has gotten in trouble for doing so. Would they most likely just yell at you? Or are you likely to get a fine? Edited April 3, 2014 by Sh0n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metopocetus Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Ah. I'm just seeing on some sites say that it is illegal to search beneath the cliffs, but then I see that plenty of people do it anyway. Just wondering if anyone has gotten in trouble for doing so. Would they most likely just yell at you? Or are you likely to get a fine? If you are referring to Calvert Cliffs State Park, yes, the rangers or park staff will come after you if you venture under the cliffs. Calvert Cliffs generally speaking refers to the 30 mile stretch of cliffs along the bay. The other posters are talking about places other than the state park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 If it is posted, don't go there. You would be breaking the law. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sh0n Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Okay, thanks. How does one gain access to the parts of the cliffs that are not a part of Calvert Cliffs State Park and is more "go at your own risk"? I only know of the park Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Okay, thanks. How does one gain access to the parts of the cliffs that are not a part of Calvert Cliffs State Park and is more "go at your own risk"? I only know of the park By boat; private property starts at the high-tide line in Maryland. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sh0n Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) Anyone have any friends with property on thecliffs? haha Edited April 3, 2014 by Sh0n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 No, but I'm willing to make some You can get access from the marina if you have a boat. You can kayak from sites with public access (Randle cliffs park AKA Brownies Beach or Flag Ponds). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessed1 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Looking at that picture, I would image 2 different reactions (1) time to go or (2) a lot "fresh" fossils just came tumbling down. I would image a fresh fall is fair game if you are willing to take the risk. Obsessed1 may I ask your reaction, and if (2), what did you find? Looks GREAT/ exciting, but dangerous. And I too would like to see your finds from there It went sort of like this.. Wow glad I wasn't still there, What am I thinking there could be fossils there ( at this point I am walking fast back towards the fall) a big Otodus....maybe a croc jaw or even a skull. I was about ten feet away when some more smaller (think the size of a softball) pieces fell. That jolted me back into what most would call rational thinking so I stopped and surveyed the area overhead... half of a rootball suspended in midair and sticking out from the cliff face about 15 feet directly over the pile. So I spent the next ten minutes slowly inching closer to the pile. First looking at the pile then up to the rootball, then back at the pile.. now a step closer. Oops there came another little piece down and a step back. These last few things kept happening over and over. I finally made it to the edge of the pile and was back into "fossil brain" mode. I looked and looked for at least ten minutes and found only one tiny tooth and it had been broken in the fall. So I put my rake down snapped that photo and moved on. I checked that pile often and never did find anything noteworthy from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessed1 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Anyone have any friends with property on thecliffs? haha No, but you could buy a house, although I found it MUCH cheaper to buy a boat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 (edited) A few years ago I was in the DC area on business and popped over to Brownie's Beach for a couple of hours. Some guy had climbed up a big fall and was digging into Zone 10. He had a hole big enough that he was almost completely inside the cliff, only his legs were sticking out. Most shocking, there was a large tree with the root ball almost 1/2 exposed, directly above this guy. In other words, he was seriously undermining the cliff directly underneath a very precariously positioned large tree. I commented to a woman who was searching the beach that "that idiot is going to get himself killed". She replied that the idiot was her husband (oops, awkward!), that he often did that kind of thing, and that she didn't like it, but he never listened to her. After the guy left, I very cautiously explored around the base of the fall where the material he had pushed out of the hole ended up. Of course I kept checking up at the tree as well. I got a lot of fresh shells, which was fun as that was the first time I had access to really fresh Zone 10 material. About a year later I had another chance to visit Brownies. The tree was in the water. Don Edited April 5, 2014 by FossilDAWG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Be careful out there... the big boulders always have the right of way!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunt4teeth Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I looked and looked for at least ten minutes and found only one tiny tooth and it had been broken in the fall. So I put my rake down snapped that photo and moved on. I checked that pile often and never did find anything noteworthy from it. Thanks for sharing rest of the story! Although I have no experience with Calvert Cliffs, I would of thought there would have been some nice pickens from a collapse that big. I'm hoping to make over there on my way out to Aurora, N.C. this year. Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I you're going to die fossiling, it should at least involve highly fossiliferous material! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunt4teeth Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 I you're going to die fossiling, it should at least involve highly fossiliferous material! Agreed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessed1 Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Thanks for sharing rest of the story! Although I have no experience with Calvert Cliffs, I would of thought there would have been some nice pickens from a collapse that big. I'm hoping to make over there on my way out to Aurora, N.C. this year. Jay That fall was over on the Potomac. I was just using it for illustrative purposes. The same size falls and even much bigger do occur along the Calvert Cliffs as well. What you find and the quantity of finds really depends on which layer has fallen. There were many broken inverts in that pile but due to their fragile nature in that layer they were in many small pieces and not salvagable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunt4teeth Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 That fall was over on the Potomac. I was just using it for illustrative purposes. The same size falls and even much bigger do occur along the Calvert Cliffs as well. What you find and the quantity of finds really depends on which layer has fallen. There were many broken inverts in that pile but due to their fragile nature in that layer they were in many small pieces and not salvagable. Thanks for the clarification. It would make sense the finds and their condition would depend on the layer and types of fossils in that layer that have fallen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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