Peace River Fossil Hunt, May 2019, Megalodon Teeth and Mammoth Ivory

We went fossil-hunting yesterday on the nothern Peace River (Bone Valley Formation, Hawthorn Group, Hardee County, Florida). After striking out at some new spots recently, we decided to return to an area where we have recovered fossils previously. When we arrived early in the morning, we had a good feeling about this trip.

Well, that good feeling got crushed out pretty quick when we paddled a short distance to "our" spot. There were huge spoil piles of gravel sitting on the banks all over the area. Yes, some unknown bastards had already hit our spot and hit it hard. Whoever these people were, they must have spent a good deal of time and effort working this spot. The sheer amount of gravel they moved was impressive. We instantly knew that we were getting sloppy seconds and that our haul would consist of whatever these hunters had missed or rejected.

We found a few things in that spot, but it was mostly picked clean except for small dugong rib fragments and small turtle shell pieces. They kept every damn shark tooth they could find. I even went through one of the spoil piles and not a single tiny tooth to be found. Considering the amount of gravel they sifted, they must have found hundreds of small teeth in that one spot alone. It sucked for us. They did miss a couple of small megalodons and a few nicely-preserved chunks of mammoth ivory.

Our trip took us a few miles north, which was well past where these previous hunters stopped. We stopped seeing spoil piles once we got about a mile upstream. Further north, all we managed to find were a bunch of recent alligator bones and scutes. So, again, another day of beautiful (but hot) weather, pleasant scenery, but a disappointing haul of fossils. Time is running out on this fossil season before the rains come, so the next trip or two needs to count.

Genuine fossils and megalodon teeth available at Galactic Stone & Ironworks - https://www.galactic-stone.com

Image credits : me.