Finally!

I headed down to the Potomac this Sunday, again in hopes of scoring a Paleocarcharodon tooth.  I got there about 8 AM, about 4 hours before low tide, and had the place to myself.  I started the hunt by heading south along the river.

  I did pretty well on the south side.  The recent rains cleared a lot of the sand away, exposing the fossil-bearing gravels.  Otodus teeth were abundant, although most were heavily worn and/or damaged.  I did get a pretty 1- 3/8 incher with a great black bourlette, but no really big ones.  I also found a nice 1- 9/16 Croc tooth, a sweet Palaeohypotodus Rutoti lateral tooth with a partly serrated edge beside one of the cusps, and a big 1- 3/4 Sand Tiger tooth.  Happy with my finds so far, I turned around and headed for the north side. 

  Surprisingly, I was the first to hit this shoreline too!  Unfortunately, not many teeth showed themselves.  The sand on the north side wasn't washed away at all by the rains, and there wasn't much gravel exposed.  After about 1- 1/2 hours of searching without much to show for it, I took off my backpack and sat down on the sand to take a break.  The clouds were getting dark, and the forecast had warned about rain, so I was thinking about heading home.  I stood up and bent down to get my pack, when a little glint of light from the sand caught my eye. 

  Checking it out, I could tell from the small area visible that it was a tooth.  Nothing else shines exactly like fossil enamel!  I gave it a light push with my finger and could see that the tooth was triangle-shaped.  I'm thinking that it was another little Otodus.  When I picked it up, though, I immediately knew it wasn't an Otodus- the root was way too thin!  OMG, I finally found my first Paleocarcharodon Orientalis!  I couldn't be happier - decent size at 7/8 inches, minimal wear and damage, and the photos below don't come close to showing how glossy the tooth really is.

  All in all, this was one of the best hunts I've had in a while, at what is quickly becoming my favorite place to hunt.  The teeth down at the Potomac may not be huge, but they are definitely worth hunting for!