Pat Young reports: The final Friend's weekend was a fossil collectors dream. Both days were in the mid-seventies with continuous soft breezes. Skies were filled with flocks of (?migrating) dragonflies, swallows, gulls and geese. Native sunflowers and red-stemmed Summersweet (Clethra sp) shrubs (fig. c) brightened the rocky landscape. A slight rain fell Saturday morning, but not enough to hamper walking or looking; unfortunately, results didn't quite keep up with expectations. The reclamation (fig. d) continues its steady flow and some areas had to be blocked on Saturday; more areas were blocked on Sunday causing the loss of some prime Yorktown tailings. Nevertheless, collectors made do with little grumbling. Many of the crowd were new to collecting and eagerly sought the large pectens, small gastropods and miscellaneous whale bones available.

Those looking for shark teeth had a tougher time -- most collectors hunkered to the ground and had their best luck in the Pungo. Over both days, only one complete meg was reported (Bruce Wakefield 's black and gray 4-1/4 "beauty) although a few small chubbies were found. Large Cosmopolitodus teeth were also scarce, but John Blanton's (fig. a) deserves special mention. A few nice Galeocerdo and two Carharodon carcharias teeth (Gene Yates and Melissa Perucca) were recovered and Notorynchus specimens seemed almost common compared to some other tooth finds. Nancy MacArthur (fig. b) and Michael Ford each found beautiful and nearly perfect Carcharoides catticus teeth. Yorktown collectors put rakes and shovels to heavy use. Helen and John Herrick spent most of Saturday digging one spot; they netted a seal humerus, two small whale teeth, a large whale humerus and radius and several small but complete sections of skull. When they tired of the area, Matt Coon staked his claim and recovered the huge basal portion of a whale skull (close by, Karissa Hendershot got a seal phalange). Sunday saw Mary Frances Comer digging the same area; she came away with two very wet and heavy cervical vertebrae (there have been no large shark teeth found there yet).

Repeating Harry Zirlin's find of last weekend, Rick Jahn, Scott Kusluch and James Kelly each found tiny squalodontid molars; Jim Stedman got a very pretty Squalodon premolar missing only part of the root. Melissa Perucca recovered a large sperm whale tooth on Saturday and three large associated ones were found on Sunday (their fragile condition made imaging unwise). This weekend another small Pungo cetacean skull was found; George Powell's great find included the frontal bones, nasals and a 7-inch section of maxilla -- no ear bones or teeth were visible.

It is uncertain how far or fast the reclamation will leach into our fossil collecting territory -- any new information will be posted as it becomes available.

Pat Young reports: About 110 Friends slots were greeted by cool (mid-40s) foggy mornings that quickly transitioned to a warm (just dry and/or breezy enough) to make collecting a 2-3 bottle of water day - not bad for the first weekend of October.

As this weekend's collectors gathered in the parking lot, news of last Sunday's prolific fossil finds spread like wildfire. Expectations were high that this weekend's results would be as good or better. Many collectors quickly headed toward the recently opened area, only to discover that rising water (or new stakes) prevented access. With reclamation creeping from the rear of the mine, losing this area was a real let-down; our collecting area is now considerably smaller than last season. A few notable finds were made but not nearly matching last weekend's quantity. Mel Gulotta and Kati Abraham (Fig B) each got excellent 5-1/2 inch anterior lower megs; Kati found hers (1/2" of tip was exposed) only a few yards down the ramp. Matt Wojtko's 5-1/2 inch tooth came broken in half, but the pieces fit together perfectly. Jess Ferguson got a nice 2-3/4" chubutensis and Mary Lightfoot Fig C) a very wide, but squat posterior meg. A few others were found (far less than week 1) and all were smaller or damaged. Bramble shark teeth were reported by Tom Caggiano and Mel Gulotta; Tom's was another of those large ones reported last week. Ted Kordela's lower hastalis (2-3/4") was the largest reported. Other notable finds were a nice Parotodus posterior (Matt Wojtko), a large I. retroflexus lateral (Dan Lawver, Fig A) and an excellent Isistius lower (Eric Sadorf). All regular shark species were collected, but they were in much lower abundance than last weekend.

Marine mammal finds were much better. Small whale, dolphin and porpoise teeth seemed almost abundant. Jo Carol Titmus (5-inch, Fig G) got a large cetacean tooth which we could not identify -- ?seal or whale; Dave Sanderson's 3" tooth was nearly identical but lacked the cutting-edge. Mel Gulotta and another person found 5-inch sperm whale teeth. Harry Zirlin (Fig F) brought up a tiny squalodontid-type molar and Howie Cohn (Fig E) an uncommon Ninoziphius cf platyrostris tooth. John Everette's seal axis (Fig I) offered the first view many had ever seen of this second vertebral position; two canines by Nick Pritchard (Fig D) and John McNulty rounded out the days' seal finds. Two partial skulls were found: Paul Murdoch's Yorktown specimen (which had been dug out and discarded by another collector) included the bulla and periotic bones; Dan Peters' tiny juvenile occipital skull section was from the Pungo River Formation.

John Timmerman chipped out a chunk of limestone containing a large Ecphora and Howie Cohn brought out a piece containing a dolphin vertebra. Invertebrate fossils were best represented by the rare to Lee Creek whale barnacle (Coronula diadema, Fig H) found by Ed Styffe; last time one of these was seen was in spring 2005.

(Editor's note: Two collectors caught napping and one seen digging reveal very different attitudes towards the days experience. The smaller collecting area certainly makes the need for regular rain more critical; make sure your collecting equipment includes a rake, knee-pads and/or pillow -- I crawled it myself this weekend. While close to the ground, you might find that fire ants attack and tiger beetles run from you; but the below elongated long-jawed orb weaver (Tetragnatha sp) posed for several images -- maybe carry a camera as well.)

Pat Young reports: Dense fog greeted those entering North Carolina for the first day of the fall fossil season. The tips of the dragline booms appeared eerily suspended in space as the ground was covered in haze. The beauty of the cool morning quickly gave way to breath-sucking humidity. By 10 am, we all were dripping sweat and suffering with foggy glasses. Although the high temp was only 83-degrees, the Amazon-like air quality lasted throughout the day and probably contributed to what most thought was a less than spectacular "first day"; Sunday was very much better. Those arriving from the south and west reported a scary time trying to find gas to get them here, but northern collectors had no problem. Friends of the Museum filled both days' slots including some special guests: six Dutch fossil collectors (image) led by Rene van der Vliet. They were very generous in sharing their European Isurus escheri teeth. Most of us were in awe of these serrated "makos"; they seemed equally impressed by our very large tiger shark teeth.

First weekend hunters are (for the most part) of a singular mindset -- "megs"! From the giant 5-1/2 inch teeth found by George Powell (fig. a) and Doug Chaussee (Pungo, fig. b) to the tiny juvenile lateral shown by Bob Birchfield, at least 100 were collected over the two days with 15 three inches or larger. Showing 3+ inch Yorktown teeth were: Steve Pyne (4"), John Everette (4-5/8, fig. c), BJ Blake (4-5/8), Chris Mayo (3-3/4), Kim Turok, Brian Roberts and Gregg Walden (3"). The Pungo produced some outstanding chubutensis with most reported being fully exposed and in near perfect condition. Largest of these were: Matthew Brzostoski, Ben Allen, Eric Thies, Rene van der Vliet and Paul Murdoch. Steve Pyne got a 4-1/2 inch split-tip, Kim Turok a ?symphyseal (LA0) and Jason Kowinsky one in limestone matrix.

Cosmopolitodus (broad and narrow form) and large Galeocerdo teeth were plentiful (where they could be found). Other highly-prized PCS offerings picked were: Notorynchus symphyseal (Joel Hardin, fig. f), Hexanchus (Jim Mahoney, fig. g; Talban Kantala, he got 2; and Debbie Burdette, an upper), Carcharodon carcharias (John Adams, fig. d; Kurt Wenk, and Brian Hempy), Parotodus (Kim Turok, fig. j; and John Everette), and a large Echinorhinus (Rene van der Vliet, fig. e).

Variety, if not abundance was evident in "other" fossils. Kim Turok, Anne Lineberry, John Keklak, Shannon Roberts and George Powell got very nice cetacean teeth but all Squalodons had damage. George Oliver (fig. h) got the only seal tooth (a molar) and Richard Chandler a large piece of rust colored amber. A bit of cleaning and a quick lesson from Richard Chandler revealed that Paul Murdoch (fig. i) had found an extremely rare Aturia chamber. Fish fossils in good condition are still scarce but a few good finds were made: Grouper maxilla (Frank Weidmann), Herring skull (Theresa Muller) and several tuna, bluefish and wahoo jaws containing teeth. Echinoids were found by John Keklak (fig. k) and BJ Blake (both Arbacia) and George Oliver (Psammechinus).

The weather is still very hot in Aurora and I must emphasize the need for plenty of water--two bottles is not enough given the large size area we have to collect this season.

Curtis Ormond of PCS Public Affairs has confirmed that PCS Phosphate will be available for a fall fossil collecting season. The start date will be September 27th and the first three weekends reserved for the "Friends". Curtis will take email requests from August 15 through August 30 only. Please contact him at cormond@pcsphosphate.com to reserve a date for your group.

The same rules as in previous seasons will apply: Steel-toed footwear and hard hats are required. All visitors must be 18+, show a photo ID and sign a Waiver of Liability Release. Shorts and sleeveless shirts are not allowed and plenty of water needed. Collectors will meet at (7:00 am) the parking lot across from the PCS Main Gate (from Highway 33 in Aurora, NC take Highway 306 N. for 6 miles).

Some six years ago, the website began updating the Sharktooth Hill fauna; a project sidetracked from time to time. With the help of Jess Duran, its revision was finally completed in late Spring/early Summer. As part of this update, 'Genus Pages' were updated or added; of particular interest to Lee Creek collectors would be the Parotodus, Hemipristis and Mustelus additions.

Working with Earl Manning, currently under development is a Late Cretaceous of the Mississippi Embayment fauna page. It is anticipated to be completed by Fall, but various Cretaceous taxa will be updated prior to the release of the fauna page.