- Weekend 2 -- The real collecting begins
Unlike the previous weekend that reflected a long summer's rest and plenty of rain,
the North Carolina Club, and others this past weekend, had the chance to test the
mine's recovery power. Despite rain on Tuesday, it isn't springing back well.
Paul Mallon reported in to say that there were several nice finds, but overall, collecting was sparse. He noted that, "finds included a 4-1/2" megalodon in perfect condition (found by someone on only their second trip), two separate seal jaws (one with a few teeth intact), and a dozen or so whale teeth (one with a section of jaw)." John Timmerman found a reworked 4-1/2 - 5" megalodon and another was found that could've measured 6 inches if the tip wasn't damaged. He said, "other finds included a large barracuda canine and a seal tooth in perfect condition."
Paul did some asking around, and it seems that ALL collecting in the fall season was originally slated to be in the "new" area. With operations falling behind schedule, collecting will continue in the old area for some weeks to come.
- Weekend 1 -- another season begins.
Well, a summer's rest and a heavy touch of Bonnie seems to have got the season off to
a good start. Howie Cohn reported in to say that, despite the brutal heat, the collecting was
fun and generally quite good. He noted that John Everette found a couple nice five-inchers
and Joy, a bunch of makos. Steve Alter confirmed these points, and noted that takes
included a bunch of cow shark teeth including a Hexanchus, smaller 'megs', a
large Paratodus and what he termed the "find of the day" - a 4-inch, split-tip, Pungo River
Carcharocles found by John Paschal. He notes that those going in next weekend
should pray for rain -- the Yorktown was well searched by all.
Collecting was in the same area as last year, but Becky announced that the area would soon be flooded. In three or four weeks, visitors would be collecting in a new area!
Well, as I write, Bonnie's sitting offshore, deciding whether or not to expose Lee Creek material for the NCFC. Let's hope her impact on the state is limited to the useful. Anyway, John Schack wrote in with some interesting links. First, he found an internet source for Welton & Farrish's Fossil Sharks and Rays of the Cretaceous of Texas. Then, he tracked down Kent's Fossil Sharks of the Chesapeake Region. at Barnes & Noble for $10.36 + postage. Next, he advised me that the DVPS now has a website, and they are offering copies of the Mosasaur from that location. Lastly, he tracked down a source selling the Miocene of Maryland. Four very good leads -- thanx John
Well, this week links from ABCNEWS.COM includes an article entitled "What the Plesiosaur Ate", another on coelacanths, and a third, with video, on sauropod tails -- did they crack them in whip-like fashion to attract attention.
 |
 |
 |
A couple links I forgot to post the other day. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh is hosting an exhibit on "China's Feathered Dinosaurs" from Friday 8/7/98 to Sunday 9/13/98. ABCNEWS.COM had an interesting item on a new Paleozoic fossil from Scotland named Eucritta melanolimnetes meaning creature from the black lagoon. And lastly, a page regarding the capture of Megamouth 11.
 |
 |
 |
Well the call-in is over and slots allocated. Looks like I'll get my first opportunity on September 26th after the NCFC & Aurora group have picked it over -- sure hope they don't get rained out.
Species Pages I've added two new species pages to join the Basking Shark page posted this spring. This section will grow slowly as I have the time to create them. 
ABCNEWS.COM The Discovery Channel's Shark Week program on Prehistoric Sharks created a bunch of e-mail to this website, and ABCNews had a nice piece as well. The feathered dinosaur posting was several weeks back. 
Sites worth a visit. Richard Lund's Fossil Fish of Bear Creek Gulch is one of those sites you'll want to revisit periodically. I wear Art's tee-shirts, so coming across his site, with his talent applied to prehistoric sharks, was fun. 
- Rick Martin. Five new selections of Ricks writing are now available, be sure to visit.
I've been tied up on various projects the last month or so, so few items have been added to the website. Having brought my Manta research to a good breaking point, it seemed an appropriate time to add some webpages.
Paleo-maps On the top of that list would be that some Paleomaps that are now available. They can be brought up by clicking the image. - ABCNEWS.COM This news server continues to provide good (or at least interesting)
information. Below are links to articles on the Basking Shark, Sloth Dung, Cosmic Doom
and Keeping Sharks in Captivity.
Warnings Websites in general have been criticized for their lack of peer review. It was deemed appropriate that the website carry a warning, alerting the reader to this fact. - Kent Book. If you don't have a copy, the Smithsonian bookstore still has copies.
- Weekend 13 -- the season ends. John Paschal stepped-up to provide the final report of the collecting season. It seems the the day "was more like an early season trip than the last one of the season". Not only was it a two-bus day, but the collecting was outstanding. "Marvin Rae from the Cape Fear Club, found a beautiful 5 inch and a nice 3 inch Yorktown megalodon. I saw at least two other 5 inch teeth (Delaware Valley Club). There were reports of a broken 6+ incher but I did not see it; as well as other smaller megalodons. Two Paratodus were found (one by Eric), lots of nice makos and some seal bones." On the negative side, the heat was overwhelming, "by 11:30 there were 15-20 people already at the bus and ready to leave". John went on to note that the associated dentition he's collecting now numbers over 80 teeth.
- Haven't heard from any collectors yet, but it's worth wishing the collecting season a fond adieu. Thanks to el Niño, plenty of rain provided for relatively good collecting. Many collectors have started to pay greater attention to smaller teeth -- John Paschal's success with Squatina is an excellent example.
-
Speaking of small teeth, I felt obliged to include an image of a Notorynchus lower lateral -- sure is small (5.0 mm in width, click to get larger version). ABC News has another interesting item on its website, this time on marine reptiles. 
- Sharktooth Hill. When Marcel and I conceived the project, we expected it to come together slowly. With the help of Steve Alter and Bill Heim, it came together faster than anticipated. Although not finished and requiring feedback from other knowledgeable parties, our preliminary effort is now open to visitors. Stop by Sharktooth Hill and let me know what you think. The these pages will eventually be cross-linked to the Lee Creek pages, but be sure to visit the Basking shark page.
- Weekend 12. Having recieved little feedback in recent weeks, Fossil Fair weekend
provided an opportunity to experience the collecting conditions first-hand. It was another one-bus day,
but the outlook was good. There had been rain since the prior weekend, the week's heat had broken
and the chance of rain was low -- should be a nice, if not great, day.
An air horn blasted three times around 1:15 pm -- torrential rain and lighting had offically aborted the collecting day. It would be in the hot cramped conditions of the returning bus that the day's stories would be swapped by a group of wet puppies. It seems collecting was seen as relatively good. John Everette came up with three Carcharocles teeth, the largest an excellent 4-3/4 incher. Another "big un" (5 inch or so) was found by a couple criss-crossing the collecting path of Eric and Mellissa, who also had a cow shark and pathological mako to show. My vote for the best tooth of the day went to Howie Cohn - a pathological Galeocerdo cf aduncus which looked like a cow shark symphyseal when viewed labially. As usual, I would need to content myself (in the future) with the contents of nine bags of sand and the prior day's immediate gradification (in this case, it was a Hybodus tooth from southern NC).
John Paschal continues to work his associated Squatina tooth-set, now numbering over 50 teeth. Sitting next to his wife on the return bus, she had found an "old time" Yorktown gully, and showed me a bagfull of large teeth and other material to prove it.
- Aurora Fossil Fair. I cannot attest to the success of the Fossil Fair. The downpour that chased us from the mine, cleared out the streets of Aurora as well. Bill Heim, the North Carolina Club, Smithsonian and others all had good displays. As has happened in prior years, the Fossil Fair "sandbox", across from the museum, yielded good material. This year, Montine Heim went over and picked-up a Trianodon obesus tooth!
- Fossil Fools, the Next Generation. Another club got burned by non-members joining them on a trip. This time a couple jerks decided to collect the mine's wall face and elected to ignore the admonitions of others. They were thrown out well prior to the rain. Paleo-clubs must stand-up and police their members and guests, the stupid actions of self-centered collectors like these, jeopardize access for all of us.
- Weekend 10. A little belated, but word slipped in on the May 9th trip. Uwe Heine noted that despite my negative reports, the weekend's collecting was better than expected, largely due to very heavy rain and hail during the week. ("No footprints from the previous week were visible.") Uwe reported that three and four inch megs were found as well as a beautiful 2.5" Isurus (Carcharodon) hastalis. Patrick Hammond found a very nice 2 inch Paratodus and a Squalodon tooth. Uwe's take included dolphin teeth, an alligator scale, Notorhynchus and the normal assortment of common small teeth.
- Weekend 9. Well, I finally made my first trip of the season, better late than never. Despite a foreboding late-week forecast, the mine saw a beatuiful spring day -- warm with blue skies and a gentle breeze. As Horn & Hardart once advertised, "You can't eat atmosphere", by the same token, you can't collect aesthetics or black swans -- the collecting was poor. The week's rain had proven sufficient enough to erase footprints but not enough to expose new material. I saw a few Carcharocles teeth, but heard of no large ones. John Paschal continued working his angelshark exposure adding to his growing associated dentition. Steve Alter found a bramble and pathological (two tip) Carcharhinus, Tom Whitimore a seal and Melissa, a couple beautiful Notorynchus teeth. Otherwise, I saw or heard of little more. My weekend was made the prior day with a near-perfect Cretolamna biauriculata from southern NC, so I satisfied myself with 10 bags of sand and some Pungo River trinkets, including a Cetorhinus gill-raker. Despite the challenges, the New Jersey & Maryland clubs managed to fill the 3:00 bus.
- Sharktooth Hill. Marcel de Jong has agreed to begin work on an ELASMO.COM webpage for this famous left-coast locale. This effort will appear as a simple background and faunal list page in the near future. Others willing to contribute would be welcomed. Marcel made his first trip to Lee Creek this weekend, experiencing results similar to the reat of us -- a little of this, a little of that, but mostly, just a little.