The NCFC trip leader was thoughtful enough to pole the club's collectors and report on their trip. Rich Olsen forwarded this report on a more timely basis than it is being published.

"The weather was cold and windy but full sunshine. We collected two sites. Site 26A was collected from 9:00 to 12:00 and Site 26B from 12:00 to 3:00. Despite a reported 1.5 inch rain, overall collecting was poor (based on reports on the bus from both sites). As usual at Lee Creek, the knowledgeable collectors tended to fair better than the novices. In addition, most of the successful collectors spent time digging or crawling. Everyone stayed in good spirits and there were no complaints (that I heard). Digging was effective and the few of us who were lucky enough to find isolated Pungo piles, had a good day. Certain collectors shared the highlights of their day:

Saturday: With our regular reporter sick, BJ filled in the day's details. Three groups (Old Dominion Earth Science Society, Henderson County Gem and Mineral Society and Northern Tennessee Meg Hunters) encountered 30 mph winds, temperatures in the fifties and the now over-collected NCPC site.

The biggest tooth of the day was Steve Williams' 3-inch megalodon followed by Bob Dudley's 2-1/2" 'xiphodon'. Notorynchus teeth were found by Greg Mullins, Becky, and Ken Young, Becky also found a nice retroflexus and Lawrence Owens a very large lower Hemipristis. As for other material, Becky found a seal knuckle, partial wahoo jaw, and turtle claw core. Candace picked a 4-1/2 inch fish dorsal spine and an echinoid (sp. unknown). Lawrence Owens recovered the only sperm whale tooth of the day and an unidentified collector found a seal tooth.

Sunday: The NC Fossil & East Coast Fossil Clubs got to finish the season in Blocks 26A and 26B. Pat reports, "Well, the last day of the season ended with a huge blast for at least one fossil hunter. Jack Gollahon brought out two megs -- one 4-3/4" and the other 4-5/8". He added to that a Carcharodon carcharias that was 2-1/8" and a 'xiphodon' that measured 2-1/4". The megs were in near perfect condition (both lowers and golden tan) and the GW was a beautiful wide UA1 specimen with black and gray mottling. In all fairness and respect to Jack, it just shows what digging will get you. They didn't jump in his apron. John Paschall came in second with a beautiful 2-1/2" meg in equal condition and a sweet posterior one."

Other than those finds, larger teeth were elusive. The tailings continued to yield smaller specimens made up of the 'usual suspects'. (BJ's Notorynchus, sand tiger, cuvier, etc. teeth managed to fill two hands.) John Everette did manage to find a nice pathological Hemipristis. One person found a shark rostral and Judy Stiles a nice ray scute.

Pat went on to note, "mammal fossils were represented by Carolynne Hertensteins' seal metacarpal, John Everette's sperm whale tooth, and Kim Peterson's whale skull. The skull was huge (took two men to haul it out) and still had one bulla attached. Somebody else found a porpoise skull. One croc tooth was seen and a perfect dime-sized Psammechinus philanthropus."

Late season visits always have a special spin. This week's storm tested the determination, navigation and collecting skills of collectors. They descended from the north and west, cloaked by an ice storm (Tennessee) or covered in snow (Maryland). However, 32 collectors negotiate NC's weather defenses, driven by an urge known only by salmon.

Boarding the bus it was 22 degrees, the group shared a collective thought — the collecting 'better be good'. Rain and a week off for Thanksgiving helped replenish the tailings — some half-descent finds were made. Pat reports:

"Grady Frame found a perfect 3-inch Pungo meg and Russ Beyers, a 2-1/2 inch subauriculatus (aka chubutensis) in equally good condition. Two great anterior megs were found: one by Chris Hurd (a pretty yellow one) and another by Mel Hurd (1-1/2"), that was more root than tooth. Mel also found a 2-1/2 incher. (I found one nearly four inches, but it had suffered feeding damage from a hungry bulldozer.) Quite a few nice xiphodon (hastalis) teeth were found (Becky had 4), but the real jewel was a very curved one by Bill Leonard.

Although I didn't get a solid count, there were lots of larger Hemipristis and sand tiger teeth found, but surprisingly, few cuviers. Notorynchus, both uppers and lowers, made a fair showing — the prettiest being a solid black lower found by Bob Asreen. James Bovis found a bramble dermal thorn.

A really nice large crocodile tooth (with some root) was found by Brady Hamilton. Karissa Hendershot brought out a partial wahoo jaw with four teeth and Chris Hurd found a bluefish jaw with five teeth. Two Sperm whale teeth were found; one by John Adams and another by Steve Hicks. Phil Schmitz found a large tricostata. Nice fish fossils had washed out and gave newer collectors a chance to add to their collections."

Pat went on to 'claim' that, "We all missed John Everette who was iced in at home in Raleigh". Well, Grady and Russ may have departed less happy if John was there. Anyway, only one weekend left to this season — it's had its moments, but there is nothing like being in the 'pit'.

Both days this weekend shared similar traits -- beautiful weather (cool under blue skies), high expectations and slow collecting. On Saturday the Delaware Valley Earth Science Club and Columbia Gem & Mineral Club collected the NCPC cut. On Sunday, the New Jersey Paleontological Society and the Gem, Mineral & Lapidary Society of Washington sampled Block 26-A and the smaller spoil piles of area 'B'.

Pat reported on Saturday's results: Paul Funk found a very nice 4-inch meg upper, and Alice Harty, a 2-incher. Ed Gitler got a 3-1/2 and his brother Dan, a 4-1/4 incher (both with root damage). Large hastalis teeth were relatively abundant, the largest being Ken Young's 2-1/2" lateral and John Everette's slightly smaller specimen. Notorynchus lowers were also fairly abundant (some people bringing out two or three) and cuviers were common. Ed Horlick also found a nice I. retroflexus lower (see image).

Marine mammal material also surfaced -- Rick Harty and David Dycus each found nice sperm whale teeth and Ed Horlick, an un-erupted one. Dan Payne, a first time visitor, found a Squalodon tooth and Terry Wilson (another first timer) a perfect sand dollar. The most interesting finds of the day were a sawfish (cf Anoxypristis) rostral tooth (rare) found by BJ (see image) and 4 sections of an Aturia found by Becky. (Aturia casts have not been seen for several years and are exceedingly rare.) Pat went on to note that, "on Friday, in reject dirt, John Miller found a large partial meg with extreme pathology. One serrated edge was folded over the back of the tooth. Although missing its' root, it was quite impressive."

On Sunday, the area 'B' tailings had been dormant for a couple weeks, and had been well rained upon during that period -- there seemed to be every reason to arrive with high hopes. It didn't take long to realize that more time (and rain) was required. There are some beautiful Yorktown sediments in this section, but even the Yorktown crawl yielded relatively few specimens. The afternoon was used for area 'A' which was slow to give up its treasures. Despite the negatives, many specimens were collected (I probably took 75-100) and good things were found. The top megs were Melissa's 3-1/2 and Kim Greene's 3-1/4 inchers, but Doug Hales 2-1/2 inch chubutensis lower was gorgeous. There were a number of hastalis teeth (Candace, Ellie Rouse, Eric Woody and others), but Julie Rael's patho was the most interesting of the group. There were quite a few Notorhynchus teeth, however Tom Caggiano's partial Hex drew the most attention -- only the distal 6 or 7 conules were present, but that fragment must have 1-1/4 inches in length. (Unwilling to allow a Yankee to return with this booty, John Everette appropriate this tooth for the citizens of North Carolina.) Kim found a nice Squatina tooth and Candace two more. The award for best eyes went to Howie Cohn who picked a cookie-cutter (Isistius) tooth from the Yorktown of area 'B'. Turtle material was collected by Becky and Andy Abdul. Quite a few bird bones were reported, the best being George Klein's three associated specimens. For those invertebrate lovers out there, Eric and Candace each found clusters of the echinoid Echinocardium kelloggi (sp?).

As a sidebar, I had my first chance to visit the Aurora Museum for some time. It really is coming along nicely, and the comparative dentition collection is both useful and well presented. I had the opportunity to spend some time with Curtis Jr. over the weekend and his enthusiasm and strategy for expanding the scope and quality of the museum bodes well for its future.

I'll be spending this coming weekend in North Carolina, so any reports will be delayed until Monday or Tuesday. However, there are a couple items worth note.

Debbie Burdette put up three images (1, 2, 3) of finds from her November 10th trip on her website — a good reminder of what a day at Lee Creek can be (and not even a great one).

Mollet, Testi, Compagno & Francis have published a paper concerning Sanzo’s (1912) embryo, which discusses the embryonic dentition that was once identified as C. carcharias but is now thought to be I. oxyrinchus. Fortunately, the NOAA makes the Fishery Bulletin 100(4) Re-identification of a lamnid shark embryo.

A cloudy morning with intermittent rain saw twenty-three members of the Suwannee and Catawba Valley clubs take the bus into the mine. Around noon, they were joined by a group from the Virginia Living Museum (in Block 26-B, the new site). The mine had been rained upon during the week and, as Pat said, "there was a lot of mud-skiing going on". Unfortunately, Saturday's rains were too much, and collectors were called out at 1:30.

The week's rains had exposed some excellent material, but not megs. One lady did find two (2+ and 3-1/2 inchers), but for the most part, it was "makos" and cuviers. Pat noted that Notorhynchus teeth were particularly abundant — "Nearly everybody found at least one". The rains had exposed an abundance of Hemipristis and porpoise teeth, and quite a few large shark verts. Two Squatinas were found (Ken Young and Becky) and a partial Hexanchus.

As has been the trend this season, the non-shark finds continue to be noteworthy. Pat reports, "Judy Stiles and Glenn Bolick each found very nice whale bullas. There were also several good porpoise or small whale periotics. Pilot whale teeth were picked by Steve Robertson and myself. Candace found a seal astragula and Joseph Robertson a seal phalange. Ramona Krailler got a turtle claw core and one man, from Catawba Valley (named Baxter), found a very large turtle humerus in pristine condition. Steve Hicks found a porpoise humerus and Candace a partial jaw. Becky Hodson managed to bring out two whale verts. Ramona found four perfect echinoids in clay and I brought out two others (Echinocardium kellogi). Marisa Jones removed a nice piece of "amber" (copal) — colored yellow and red."

This weekend's aborted collecting and the ongoing nor'easter suggests that next weekend could be a good one. I hope so — I'll finally have my chance to sample the mine's bounty.

With a number of regular (elasmo.com) contributors collecting this past Sunday, I was expecting we'd get some personal perspectives of the weekend's collecting. However, none of them wrote in, so BJ was kind enough to provide some personal observations. It was 'Special Friends of the Museum' day, and 33 attended. This was an experienced group; if the fossils didn't show themselves, they would employ the "Pungo Crawl", walk the road looking in bulldozer tracks and checkout the gullies.

The day, as remembered by BJ, included: "Tony Furr's 3-1/2" meg (found very early in the day), and Richard Altman's beautiful 5-1/2" meg, ray scute, sperm whale teeth (2) and a bird bone. John Everette found a perfect Squalodon premolar and less than perfect (complete) specimens were found by Sharon Edwards (2), Rocky Culberson, and George Oliver (who also gathered a 2-3/4" meg). Bill Heim found an Odontaspis ferox (only his second), Montine followed with a sixgill tooth, and together, they found eight bird bones.

Trish Kohler found a seal phalange with feeding damage, Sharon Edwards a juvenile meg in matrix, Chuck Ball a 6-inch sperm whale tooth and a 2-1/2 inch pathologic 'mako'. Marsha Johnson came away with a whale tooth, and Rich Olson with four porpoise teeth and some sturgeon material. Debbie Burdette acquired porpoise, tigers, and Hemipristis teeth from the Pungo. Tom Caggiano found seven porpoise teeth, and Rocky Culberson added three 2-inch 'makos', two Notorynchus, a large fish-tail and an extant great white to his collection. Cindy Muston took home a two inch meg, two large 'makos' and a huge coprolite. Bobby Tant found five nice 'makos' (the largest measuring 2-3/4"), Charles Spaugh was happy with his 3-1/2" meg and Loy Dellinger was thrilled with his 3-1/4 and 4-1/4" megs. Candace took home a cute posterior meg, six porpoise teeth, two barracuda teeth, a sea urchin and a 6-section ray mouth plate (a rarity these days)." As for BJ, she found a Notorynchus, three bird bones and a few decent 'makos'.

Recent reports have suggested a modest upturn in collecting results. The Black River Fossil Club, Cape Fear Mineral and Gem Society and some individuals were in today, their results were less than might be expected. The day itself was beautiful, sunny with 70-degree temperatures and a nice breeze.

BJ reported on the finds she saw, and deemed Michael Dunn's "beautiful 2-inch Paratodus benedeni (does a crack in the root keep it from being perfect?)" the 'Find of the Day'. Megs were smaller and less abundant, but still found. Rita McDaniel (3-inch), Brian Hempy (2" and another in matrix), Chris Sheats (2-1/8 & 2 inch), and BJ Blake (2-1/2 & a damaged 3-1/2 incher). According to BJ, "Randy O'Brien had the most unusual meg of the day - it showed ?fighting damage on the lingual surface - serrations and all (or else, the shark bit himself)."

BJ noted, "'Xiphodon' teeth seemed to rule the day, being found by Liane Knogenhjelm (2-1/8"), her husband John (2-5/16"), Heath Wilson (2"), and Chris Sheats (1-3/4").... many smaller ones were also found. The one found by James Johnson was 2 inches with a pathological tip. Linda Johnson found a beauty of a 2-1/2 inch Isurus oxyrinchus and Heath had four, ranging from 1-1/2 - 2 inches." Heath also found a 1-1/2 inch C. carcharias. In general however, cuvier and Notorhynchus teeth were under represented in the day's finds.

As is usually the case after rains, fish material appears. If visitors aren't finding shark teeth, this material is readily collected. BJ commented on this phenomenon, "lots of huge hyperstotic bones, vertebra, and the like. Candace Holliday found three barracuda teeth, a 2-inch long fish spine, ... Becky found a 3-inch long piece of fish jaw (sans teeth) as well as "Becky's brain" (fish brain), ...". Visitors continue to find and carry out porpoise teeth, whale verts and the under-appreciated molluscan fauna.

This website has a long tradition of supporting the Aurora Fossil Museum, so I feel it appropriate in pointing to a new facet of that organization — Special Friends of the Museum (SFM). I've corresponded with or read material from collectors, the museum and mine personnel. I'm hesitant to state emphatically that the following is 100% correct, but I think it will provide a reasonably accurate overview of the development of this program.

Over the years, the museum has evolved in a "punctuated equilibrium" fashion. Many factors have influenced this cycle, but funding has always been a key element. In recent times, there was the new section on extant sharks, a storage/prep area and the remodeling of the upper floor to serve as a conference/class room. The SFM program was envisioned as a means of both providing additional funds and rewarding its members with special benefits. These membership benefits include (or are expected to include): classes at the museum, a quarterly newsletter, discounts at the museum gift shop and (what may pique the most interest) special hunts into the Lee Creek mine.

Three categories of annual membership have been established so far, but haven't been clearly defined.

A SFM committee is expected to be created with its own board of directors. This committee would help guide the future of the museum by deciding on how to best utilize SFM funds.

Interested parties should contact the museum directly to apply for membership or get the latest details on the SFM program. With that said, a collector who became a member provided a copy of the application he submitted. (He'll be collecting this weekend under a SFM invitation.)

Last spring, I reported that Volume II of the new FAO Shark Catalog was now available for sale. Well, it can now be had for free -- just download the .PDF version . This is a big file, so a high-speed connection is recommended.

The negative weather forecast (30's and windy) kept participation down, but members of the Georgia Association of Marine Educators collected this Saturday. It was warmer than advertised, but the lack of rain over the week made for tough collecting. However, as Pat noted, there were still some good finds.

Megs were quite elusive. When Brandy Hartsell was returning to the bus, she found a 3-3/8 incher. This would turn out to be the largest of the day. (However, the reject pile near the parking lot produced a half dozen small Carcharocles teeth.)

Pat went on to report, "The light rain had washed out some Notorynchus teeth. Becky found two uppers, and lowers were found by Halley Page, Leigh Scott, Michael Dunn and myself. Most collectors brought out cuviers and "makos". BJ Blake and Michael Dunn each found to large "makos" (2-inch+). One of Michaels' was an oxyrinchus with great detail. The softer areas of the Pungo marl had washed out, exposing lots of pretty Hemipristis teeth.

Quite a few nice porpoise teeth and fish jaws (with teeth) were found. Only recently exposed, the fish material is in reasonably good condition. Ken Young found a complete tarpon vertebra and a partial barracuda jaw with one tooth. Candace found a partial wahoo jaw with one complete tooth and three partial ones. Leigh Scott found a hake jaw with teeth and Candace & BJ each found complete ray barbs.

Quite a few bird bones came out again -- Becky had nice reworked coracoid. Marine mammals continue to be found: complete whale bulla (Brandy), Squalodon vertebra (BJ) and two sperm whale teeth (Ken). A Squalodon tooth was also found near the bus. Lots of whale bone, including vertebrae were carried out. Most collectors took advantage of the opportunity to take home nice pectens and huge clams.

The Georgia Gem and Mineral Club and some individuals collected PCS on Sunday and were in for quite a treat -- a new collecting area north of the Block 26 area.

According to Pat, "it runs north to south. There is a high ridge (about 30 feet in most places) that tapers off to the west. It is a fairly new excavation that will be even more promising with some good hard rains. Although the area is smaller than Block 26, the steepness of the hills gives more collecting area. The material is exposed in alternating sections of Pungo and Yorktown with just a smidge of James City. PCS was kind enough to put in a new driveway which will make the prime areas more accessible."

Eight or nine nice megs were reported. Becky found a 5+ incher in Pungo limestone and Pat a similarly sized one from Yorktown clay; others were in the 4 inch range. Pat seemed particularly enthusiastic about two pristine teeth, an "outstanding 3 inch jet black meg and a 2 inch C. carcharias which had lovely lavender and pink iridescence." Hastalis and "Xiphodon" teeth were abundant, but Pat saw none from oxyrinchus. "Cuviers were on every little mound" (likely an exaggeration).

Pat went on to note that, "One seal humerus was found and various other seal bones. Whale verts of the 'huge sort' were also abundant. I saw lots of bird bones, many of which were complete. One person found a land mammal (?artiodactyl) tooth. Since the group only had about 3 hours of collecting in the new area, I think the collecting was outstanding."

This Saturday was the Calvert Marine Museum's shot at the Lee Creek fauna. According to Pat, they did fairly well. She reports:

Kathy Haberny found a 4-5/8" meg (see image) and Chuck Soares a 3-1/2 incher. Several other smaller ones were also collected. All appeared to be of Pungo origin with a dark root and golden crown. John Gecan and Mona Lang each found a subauriculatus tooth. Quite a few hastalis and "xiphodon" were taken out, including a 2-1/2 inch "xiphodon" by Richard Casely (a visitor from Australia).

Since most people were working Pungo sediments, some especially pretty Hemipristis teeth were found (can you tell where my preference lies?). As always, there seems to be a never ending supply of cuviers. This week's light rain washed out quite a few, formerly elusive, contortus teeth. And let's not forget Rita McDaniel's bramble -- it was perfect!

Several folks found Notorynchus lowers, and at least 3 partial Hexanchus teeth were carried out. Candace found a tiny, but really nice, triple ray dermal scute and Becky, a single one. Tom Haberny had two articulated shark verts (2-1/2 inch diameter) which were badly deformed. Several other giant shark verts were found.

Bill Couterman brought out a large porpoise braincase in matrix and a nice bulla (with posterior process). Barb Roder (a first time Aurora collector) carried home a 3-1/2 inch sperm whale tooth (I saw several other smaller ones and two Squalodon canines). Steve Hicks, another first timer (from Tennessee), had quite a good day, his finds included a sand dollar, perfect porpoise ulna and a walrus toe bone.

Back on week 2, Chris Strock found a pretty subauriculatus tooth, he sent in an image and it's included.

Before discussing Saturday at the mine, I'd like to suggest a visit to the newly revised Isurolamna page. With David Ward's help, the website now has a detailed review of this genus. Anyway, Bill Heim was kind enough to report on his experience this weekend.

As Bill explained, it had all the makings of a perfect visit. They headed out to Area 26, the section that was skipped last weekend. That meant some six inches of rain since it was last visited. Under blue skies and 70-degree temperatures, the collecting area stretched out before the 36 visitors (American Fossil Federation and NY Times Scientific). It was narrower and about 2/3rds the length of the NCPC cut, but the Yorktown tailings looked perfect -- pedestals and no footprints.

As Bill tells it, after the first hour he managed only a couple dusky teeth. An hour later, his take had only increased by a small whale tooth. He had seen no 'xiphodon's or even fragmentary megs. Collectors he encountered were experiencing similar results from these beautiful but seemingly barren Yorktown sediments. Even the Pungo exposures weren't quite right, where were all those Rhinoptera teeth? Needless to say, it wasn't a particularly memorable visit for Bill. He added a couple more items including a 'xiphodon' (2"), a large cuvier and "a weird heart-shaped small ?whale vertebra".

Of course, there were collectors that did better, particularly those less elasmo-centric in their collecting preferences. Combining Pat's report with Bill's observations we have: Jeff Sparks found a 5-1/2" meg with a snapped-off lobe (image) and Rob Mickewicz a nice subauriculatus & a C. carcharias (1-7/8"). BJ Blake had the largest 'xiphodon' (near 3") of the day. There were also a few in the 2-1/2 range, but most of the broad-form hastalis teeth were small. George Fonger found a Pungo Squatina, Les Heinzel an Echinorhinus and 3 Notorynchus teeth. Pat remembered seeing quite a few sevengills this day, as well as two pieces of shark cartilage that were nearly three inch long. Becky found two pathological teeth; a mako and a dusky.

Quite a few seal bones were recovered including a partial jaw (minus teeth), a radius and several phalanges. Jeff Sparks found a seal metatarsal and BJ a carpal bone. Fred Hendricks found one of those porpoise teeth with the bulbous hollow root, David Pinkus a sperm whale tooth and Vanessa Jackson a nice Squalodon premolar. Marshall Drecchio lugged out a large whale vertebrate that had been overlooked by previous collectors. Montine Heim found a few bird bones and Pat commented that she'd seen about ten bird bones which were either complete or had well articulated ends.

Fish material seemed particularly abundant. John Everette (remember when he used to collect meg teeth?) found a complete Pogonias (drumfish) upper pharyngeal plate and a nice Lophius (goosefish) jaw. Montine Heim found a real nice hake jaw. Pat found three pieces fish skin and Becky found another.

This project started well over a year ago and has been very slow to develop. However, a new slideshow has been added which will present evidence on the evolution of the great white. The focus will be data not opinions. Two new cyber papers (Peruvian and escheri teeth) have been supplemented by two earlier elasmo.com pages. Authors are being sought to present other aspects of this topic. Lutz Andres' escheri paper is probably the best overview of this topic anywhere.

Kyle may have helped Saturday's visitors, but a repeat trip to the NCPC area on Sunday yielded mediocre results. Pat caught up with the Dahlgren Club and a couple of independent collectors in the parking lot (Maritime Museum and Aquarium members had already departed). She reports:

A few small megs were found: Rory Dipasquale (upper & lower 2-inchers), Steve Noel (2 & 2-13/16"), Becky (3"), Mike Wehrle a pathological anterior, and a couple of other smaller specimens. Mark Jones found a Notorynchus lower, John Everette an upper and someone else, a symphyseal. Quite a few larger size hastalis/xiphodon teeth were found.

Other finds of note included: a bramble dermal denticle, bird bone & a very large Hemipristis by Marge Noel, a double denticle dermal scute by Gary Greaser, porpoise ulna & bird bone by Steve Noel, and Tom Hymer's assortment -- a nice keyhole limpet, porpoise periotic and a multitude of large crab claw sections (the most I had ever seen anyone come out with). There was the usual collection of porpoise teeth, fish bones, and a few nice shells. Despite the challenge, most folks seemed to add something new to their collection.

BJ provide a great overview of the weekend's collecting; it is presented as is.

Today was a wonderful day for collecting. Trip leaders Becky Hyne and Curtis Ormond, Jr. could not have asked for better weather, unless one wanted sunshine and less mud. Tropical storm Kyle gave us less rain than expected, but he still exposed a lot of the usual small to average size shark teeth, fish material, and bone.

Fossils of note were found by the leaders, helpers, and guests. From Virginia, the Hampton City Schools included George Greer with a beautiful "sweet potato" (well - the root looks like one!!) 5" sperm whale tooth, Richard MacDonald and his dual 2" makos, Margie Ware with a perfect echinoid in matrix, Judith Grierson with 2 nice cervical whale verts and some great shells, Ted Papafil with a snail shell and an great echinoid, as well as Alice Anderson with a beautiful huge tuna vertibra.

From Fort Fisher Aquarium, Grand Strand Fossil Club and the private individuals that joined us today, we saw Rocky Culbertson with a 4" meg, Ronnie Meyer with a 3-1/2" meg, Bryan Barnes with a sweet 1-5/8" wide posterior meg, Lisa Rolan with a 3-1/4" meg, Steve Rolan with 2 posterior megs, Charlotte Johnson with a 2-1/2" mako, and Paul Borodin with a 1-1/2" mako.

Other finds of note were Chris Staunton's angler fish jaw with teeth, very large baracuda tooth and 2 porpoise teeth; Candace Holliday's 6 porpoise teeth, Notorhynchus upper as well as lower, ray barb, and bird corocoid; BJ Blake's lingula, Notorhynchus, shark cartilage, posterior baby meg, and pathological huge ray barb; and John Everette' 3-1/4" meg.

The "find of the day" has to be split between Becky's huge perfect Squalodon molar (she found 2 molars and a canine!!) and Curtis's Archeocete molar, which was broken in half, but how many Archeocete teeth are found at Lee Creek?

In all, I think everyone had a good day, nobody seemed to be frowning as they left the mine. But then, that is what collecting is all about... as I have heard many times, "A bad day collecting is better than a good day at work".

Happy hunting everyone!!! -- BJ Blake

On Saturday, 29 visitors from the Delaware Valley Paleo Society and National Capital Fossil Club got the chance to follow the NCFC into the 'NCPC' site. Without any good rains during the week, it would be their windblown footprints that would be followed and crossed. Despite heat and humidity, there were a few good items graciously left behind by the NCFC.

As for megs, Bob Gibbs and Becky each found 5 inchers (neither perfect). Smaller (2-1/2 to 3 inch) perfect ones left with Chris Storck (subauriculatus), Mark Picard and Larry Decina. Most collectors managed a nice (1-1/2 to 2 inch) 'xiphodon' or two. A few Notorynchus teeth were found (Jim Savia [2] Ken Young [2], Donna Dickinson, Becky Hyne and Steve Kurth), but overall collecting was tough. As Pat said, "The clay is very slow to give up her ghosts."

Harry Zirlin & Bob Gibbs each found Squalodon teeth, Steve Kurth a perfect light brown seal molar and Rita McDaniel a partial porpoise jaw with one tooth in it. Whale verts continue to be scarce. Pat Young noted that "Paul Orlando wanted one badly enough to dig out every bone fragment he found until he brought up a giant one", another person brought out three.

Most of us looked enviously at the DVPS's week 2 invite -- better to wish for rain than any particular date (except any season's week 1). The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences visited on Sunday, but I've heard nothing of their results.

Pat will be on vacation next week and BJ out of town, so let's hope we hear from a couple of next weekend's participating clubs.

Dewayne Varnam (VP) of the East Coast Fossil Club checked in with the results of their five participating members. Block 26 struck him as very small, but of course, they were just glad to be there. He thought "meg teeth were few and far between", but reported three for his group, including Tyler Galloway's super 4.25" specimen ("which was absolutely beautiful"). As is usually the case, Tyler said that "the only thing that was showing was about one half inch of one corner of the root".

Dewayne went on to report that, "there were several 1.5 to 2.5 inch Cosmopolitodus "xiphodon" teeth collected by myself, George Lee, Greg Lamkin, Tyler Galloway and Bob Simmons". One of Bob's "would have been approximately 3 inches long if it had only been whole, but sadly the root was missing". Dewayne noted that his 2.25 inch "xiphodon" tooth "was setting up on a sand pedestal with footprints all around it".

Other finds included a large ray dermal denticle, 2-inch C. carcharias & Notorynchus tooth and most unusual, a six inch hognose snake (extant: Heterodon ?platyrhinos).

I don't usually do this, but exceptions are sometimes unavoidable. Marco Maas (Netherlands) contacted me to offer his collection ("the collection I like to exchange is pretty complete and includes very rare species") of Egem teeth (Ypresian, Belgium) for a nice big meg tooth. Since I concentrate on ray material, I invest little time in looking for big teeth and have few examples. If this piques anyone's interest, Marco can be contacted at MMaas@navtech.nl.

The Aurora and East Coast Fossil Clubs had their shot on Sunday. Pat Young reported on her AFC's results.

"We collected the area that was collected last season and known as Block 26. It has a North/South ridge meandering off to the right to an East /West direction. The hills are fairly steep and should wash readily. (Last season, it had been fairly recently dug and was poorly weathered.) Summer rains seemed to have made for more interesting collecting. Although I did not walk the whole area, from the fossils I saw, it appears that all three formations are well represented. Whether it continues to produce will likely be dependant on a rainy fall.

Megalodon teeth were less abundant than Saturday, however specimens were found by Andy Slate, Melissa Manwaring, Kim Greene, Debbie Burdette, David Siegert, Melissa Hubbard, Rita McDaniel, Judy Stiles, Curtis Ormond, Jr. and Duane Hubbard."

Less than 10 large (2-inch class) hastalis teeth were reported, but Chuck Ball's 2-3/4 incher was referred to as a "beauty". Carcharodon carcharias teeth seemed unusually abundant — Kim Greene, Melissa Hubbard and three by Ellie Rouse! Ellie also walked out with a Notorhynchus symphyseal. Teeth from both cow shark genera were found, including a nice Hex lower by Candace Holliday. Pat Young found a real good Hemipristis upper which measured-in at 2-3/16". (It would appear that nobody wasted their time lookin' for brambles.)

Before getting to the mammals, there were other interesting items. Shark cartilage by Jim White & Judy Stiles, shark rostrum by Andy Slate, ray tooth plate (9 rows) by Mark Bennett, dermal scutes by Ellie & Debbie Burdette, bird bones by Melissa Manwaring, Ken Young, Eric Thompson & Louise Slate and last (but not least) another complete crab claw by Jim White.

The icing on the cake included: Squalodon - molar (Zach Hubbard) & periotic (David Siegert), Seal - metatarsal & phalange (BJ Blake), metatarsal (John Everette), astragalus (Ken Young), partial jaws with tooth (Carey Hubbard & Melissa Manwaring), Dugong - rib (Ken Young), Horse - tooth (Melissa Manwaring) and Ground sloth - tooth (John Powell). All in all a very good day.

If Dewayne Varnam reports for the East Coast Fossil Club, we can fully appreciate the potential for this area.

Three more clubs will be collecting next Saturday and Sunday, let's hope we can get some good reports on that weekend's results.

The fall season certainly began in great fashion, but it begs the question, can it continue. The DVPS will bat next, let the rally continue! With the editorial comments done, on to the first week's results. Rich Olsen (President - NCFC) reported on the results of his club's visit. It was reported so well that I present it as received.

The (Sep.) 28th trip was one of the best for NCFC in recent years. 35 members +6 guides (also members!) and 4 individuals were in attendance. Rules and procedures appeared unchanged from last season. The site, about a mile long, is one of those used last spring. It is called the NCPC cut and consists of a north-south trending spoil slope on the collectors right at entry, a flatter central area, and a lake on the left. Out of bounds was the water and the top of the spoil ridge. This is the site, which is the farthest east of those used last season (closest to HWY306), which is accessed from the parking lot by the southernmost secondary gate rather than the primary entrance north of the parking lot. A significant change from conditions last year was a graded road with a pipeline at the base of the slope and running the length of the collecting area. The southern two thirds of this site are predominantly Yorktown with James City dominating the northern third.

The road grading process turned over a lot of Yorktown material, and combined with a lot of recent rain and no "footprints" may have enhanced the success described below.

The trip was a rousing success in both quality and quantity. 19 megs of good to pristine quality were found along with several with more extensive damage. Among the best were a 4-5/8" specimen with feeding damage on the tip found by John Steffensen, similar 4-1/2" found by Margaret Davis, perfect undamaged examples of 4-1/4", 3-9/16", 3-9/16", 3" found by Rita Mc Daniels, Uwe Heine, Sharron Edwards and Cindy Muston respectively. Candace Holliday found a great lower posterior tooth with well-developed cusps.

Numerous rarities were also found. Notable among these were two undamaged Parotodus benedeni specimens found by Pat Young and Sharron Edwards, a beautiful 1 5/8" Hexanchus gigas lower anterior found by Rich Olsen, an excellent and large Squalodon incisor(?) found by Doris Speicher. Richard Chandler found a porpoise skull and an Alopias vulpinus. A perfect Notorhyncus lower found by Nancy Collins-Heine was among several of that species' teeth found.

Sperm whale and Squalodon teeth in good to fair shape were common. Finds of "xiphodon" makos up to 3 inchs were far from rare with "hastalis" makos extremely common. Several large Hemipristis serra teeth were recorded along with crab remains, bird bones, ray scutes, fish and shark vertebrae and spines.

This was one of those rare trips where virtually everyone went home satisfied. — Rich

Uwe and Nancy Heine visited with the NCFC. They wrote that, "The area was not especially dense with fossils, but .." and included the attached image of their finds. Thought it might offer a glimpse into this weekend's bounty.

Pat Young, who hopes to take a less active role this season, wanted me to suggest that collectors add mosquito repellant to their checklist. They've been more active this season, and with West Nile in the headlines, why take any chances.