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December 3, 2008

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Va Shark Teeth...

Va Shark Teeth

4/14/2002 4:14:23 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

Va Shark Teeth

Hey everyone. I live in Virginia and have been collecting shark teeth for six years, but I have never found a meg. I have only looked at beach sites like Westmorland State Park. If anyone knows of a good location (especially a land site), or has info. on the va geological layers, please post.

4/15/2002 3:03:02 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

Ben Hey, I live in Va too, and have never found a big meg. Doesn't this guys site make you drool! Try the Nottoway river near Sebrell. You can wade out(when its low enough, which isn't often)and sift. A guy who came along who had never fossiled before found a broken Meg! What sites besides Westmoreland do you know about? Drew

4/15/2002 11:11:41 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

Yeah, he's found some pretty nice teeth. Thanks for the info. I heard that there is a decent place for paleocene called Liverpool Point. Also, there is a place called George Washington's Birthplace. I found a 2" angustidens there, but I don't think that it is now illegal to look for teeth at this location. O well...Westmorland is prolly the best place I know of.

4/18/2002 7:43:07 PM

ditchweezil

342 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

there's a really good site about fossil hunting in the mid-atlantic region. check out http://www.fossilguy.com/. Good luck out there! If you find a nice one, send me a picture. dw

4/20/2002 12:02:02 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

Yeah, I've seen that guy's site. He's got some really nice teeth, but I think he has special access to some sites along the Chesapeake (like to Plumb Point). There is VERY little public access along the Chesapeake Bay for people who aren't residents of Calvert County. I've e-mailed the owner of the web page a couple of times, and I am going to one location which he suggested tomorrow (Randle Cliff) =). My hopes aren't too high because I went to the location when I was more of an ammature and only found about 5 teeth (best being a tiger). On the positive side, now i have waders and I am knowledgeable enough to go early in the morning. My brother found a sweet, museum quality, 2", rear meg about a month ago at Westmoreland State Park, but I still haven't foung a meg. Another interesting thing about the meg teeth in Va is that they all seem to be slightly smaller than the teeth in South Carolina, Chile, etc. I've heard that it is because the waters that covered where Va is now were shallow and cooler. Oh well, I am enjoying seeing and reading about your fossil trips, DitchWeezil. Good Luck.

4/23/2002 4:59:17 PM

ditchweezil

342 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

Yes, Fossilguy does have some nice stuff. And he seems like a cool guy, too, though I've never met him in person. We've only spoken through email. I don't know where he hunts either, but thats one of the things that makes this hobby cool. It provides a certain mystique, doesn't it?? At shows, I have seen some beautiful 5" teeth from up there, so I think you just have to be lucky or get to the really good spots. There was a show on discovery a couple of years ago that had a segment about looking for teeth in the Calvert Cliffs. It started with a guy kayaking in from the bay who then proceeded to pick up monster teeth just lying on the beach. I know they must have been planted for the show, but it was still cool to see what the place looked like. I think his name was Brett Kent. Is that the same guy who wrote the book "Fossil Sharks of the Chesapeake Bay Region?" Its a great book if you haven't read it.

4/23/2002 11:08:00 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

There's one guy that lives near Calvert that also has his own site-http://www.olg.com/dnv/SharkTeethPage.html He has some amazing teeth. My trip to Randle Cliff was ok. I found a few decent hemipristis and an angel shark, but that's about all. After I had waded around the cliffs for a few miles, I saw a guy digging and sifting in a fallen chunk of the cliff(light brown in color-it came from pretty high up on the cliff). That was wierd because I thought that the grey clay near the base was all that contained fossils. He said that "once in a blue moon" he finds a meg. I might try doing this sometime. One problem is that many locations along the Chesapeake Bay are private property or require special permits. Also, the local fossil hunters hit the beaches around five a.m., so there isn't much when I get there around seven. So far I think my best location is Westmoreland State Park. Usually the quantity isn't that large, but the teeth you find are pretty nice. This October I get to visit a mine in this area that the fossilguy directed me to. It should have a decent calvert formation layer (early miocene), but if you find something exceptional, "the museum may retain it".lol I'm going to be putting my finds in my pocket quickly. =) This Summer I'm going to check out South Carolina. I'll prolly hit the Blue Circle Cement Quarry, or whatever its called now...maybe I can find a nice auriculatis. Eventually I'll find a nice tooth. Good luck out there.

4/24/2002 9:49:51 PM

ditchweezil

342 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

yah, i've been to that other guy's site, too. He's got some stunning fossils. I had no idea that hunting the cliffs was so competetive. 5 am is pretty extreme, man. its kindof like that here, too, but on a much smaller scale. if you catch a good spot early, you'll have it to yourself until the word spreads. spots are generally short lived here because they are usually at construction sites. There are very few good producing spots that you can hunt consistently. Most of those are diving spots, though. The good land spots are like gold. You mentioned Blue Circle (they changed their name to LeFarge, by the way) - I like that spot, but its really hard to find teeth there. I went just this last weekend, and there were about 200 people there. The area is small, so after about an hour, it was all picked over. But its always worth it to go. you'll always find something. I found a bunch of little ones, so the day wasn't wasted. my brother found a nice little rick, though. and I heard a guy found 5 associated archaeocete teeth in matrix there. what a glorious day it was for that guy, if it was true!

4/24/2002 10:40:47 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

Yeah, over here the shark tooth hunting is pretty pitiful(at least for me). I've emailed almost everyone on the web from around here and they haven't been having a lot more luck than me. The guy on the page from my last post is the only one I've seen with a meg of decent size, and I think he has been looking every weekend for ten years. Even the fossilguy has never found a meg larger than 2.7". Calvert Cliffs State Park is one of the worst places that I have been to, although they say that many large teeth can be found there. The beach is about 15 feet long and you have to walk a two mile path to get to it. Matoaka Cottages, another beach famous for its teeth is almost as bad. Its beach is long, but the best you can do in one trip is a couple hemis, which are usually damaged and no larger than an inch. It seems like the only way a meg is going to be found along the Chesapeake bay is by digging in the cliff (which is a felony unless you are on private property) or if you live in that area and go there consistently. Another downer is that you have to be 18 to get into Lee Creek. I e-mailed Roy and he informed me of this. In this area you can find a lot of paleocene teeth, but they are generally in poor condition. Also, there is a pit full of fossiliferous mud near me (can be seen on fossilguy's page), but it is illegal to look there. I've found about 8,000 teeth, just nothing good. Most of my teeth are ugly paleocene teeth (pretty much look like little sand tigers) and broken miocene teeth. My best find was a 2" angustidens. Its in perfect condition except missing about 60% of its bourlette. Its got some marbling on the sides of it so it looks pretty nice, but I've been looking for six years.

4/26/2002 4:22:09 AM

ditchweezil

342 posts

Re: Va Shark Teeth

a felony, huh? man, that's totally harsh. But understandable, I guess. Keep looking and eventually you'll find a killer tooth. It takes time. I've been hunting for teeth since I was like 6, and now I'm 28. Persistance pays off. If for no other reason than eventually you'll trip over one if you do it long enough. Here, there are teeth everywhere if you know where to look. If I dug through the floor of my house, there would be teeth. But its 15 feet down on average, so unless you own a giant digging apparatus, you aren't getting to it without some help. That means drainage ditches are a common haunt of mine. But the best spots are construction sites. The reason is because they dig these ponds, and if you're lucky, they go right into the layers. While they are digging the pond, they usually don't care if people hunt. But when they are finished, its no-no numero uno to dig in the edges. They have the sherrif's department patrol the newly finished areas looking for violators. Man, I hate it when people dig in completed ponds. it ruins it for all of us who follow the rules. because the same construction companies do all the digging, they quickly get a bad taste in their mouths from people like that, so they chase the rest of us off. So I invariably follow the rules. that's always the best policy.

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