6/18 dive trip report

[Lee Taylor]

I have plenty of broken teeth and frags. So many that I do not even pick up frags anymore. I just consider them lever-rites. (leave her right there where you found her). I like your suggestion about practicing on some large pieces. I have seen teeth at fossil shows that are polished to the maximum. I am not attracted to that. Funny thing, I have seen whale ear bones polished to the maximum and I DO like that. I just figure if I am going to continue with this hobby I might as well start improving my cleaning methods. The pieces I am seeing come out of the Edisto river are very dirty and stained. I don't think there is anyway to change staining but the exterior crud on the surface can be removed. The Cooper river fossils are MUCH cleaner. Fossil hunting is not fad-ish right now so we should have a good hunt on the 9th (because there are much fewer hunters these days). Even when my scuba days come to an end (no time soon I hope) I plan on continuing to fossil hunt. I am planning to trade my jet ski for a kayak so I can easily, slowly, and closely run the rivers edge. I also want to explore Bone Valley in Central Florida.

 

[pond skipper]

Lee, this sounds like you have a plan. I have removed most of the crud from various teeth that I have found by gently using a high speed stainless steel metal brush and then buffing with a cotton wheel and using wax rough. I'll bring some teeth with me to show you the differences of the techniques. I also canoe/kayak the rivers here with my wife and 2 yr old daughter for fossils, This is great fun.

 

[pond skipper]

Here are some pics of some Megs, a whale tooth and a small vertebra that I found yesterday. I did three dives, the first two dives yielded only a broke tooth or two and then I found a spot that I could dig in and came up with the rest of these teeth. The biggest tooth is 6.25", it is peeled up but has some neat colors on the enamel one other tooth has a neat wrinkle in the blade. Vis was just inches but it was still a good day on the river.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Thanks for posting the photos Pond Skipper. Always enjoy seeing what people are finding.

Found a video reference on the largest Peace River Florida guide. While watching the video I was struck at how similar the Peace is to the Edisto. The outfit is called the Canoe Outpost.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Fragalodons

Lee, Experiment with your tools and buffing compounds on some broken teeth and see what you can achieve.

Here are my practice materials. I found 90% of these in the Cooper river.

 

[Lee Taylor]

I'll bring some teeth with me to show you the differences of the techniques.

I would enjoy that. Also, you should ask Phill to bring some items he has found. He would like that. He has some great stuff. I especially liked the "green" tooth with the light tan root he brought last time I was on his boat.

 

[pond skipper]

Show and tell, then some diving, then some more show and tell!