Anybody diving for Megs this winter??

[Lee Taylor]

Here is a posting from yesterday from Jamie Bostwick and Aristakat Charters.

Aristakat Charters vis 8-10 feet water temp 79 air temp freakin 91 hot !!!! nice 4 incher today found....

I used the Megalodon Charters boat years ago. They have a new owner. It is a popular boat.

The Big Flat Top is another popular dive boat in Venice

There are a few other boats available if these are booked up.

 

[Boiler_81]

My son and I dove off of the Aristakat a couple of years ago. We thought highly of them.

Can anyone recommend a dive operator for a shark tooth dive in Venice FL? Anyone have a recent dive report for water temps? Thanks.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Eberlein finds another killer specimen. Check it out!

Megalodon shark tooth for sale

 

[iamsharky]

Lee, thought about you the other day. Found a site with makos, 3 inch range megs and tons of scallops. Either the place has been hit hard in the past or was so shallow when it was ocean, that the big megs could not get in there. This place is scallop heaven.............

 

[Lee Taylor]

Still here and still diving. Went with Charleston Scuba down to Rainbow River and Troy springs. Thought it would be fun and that it would force me to pull all my gear together and get things going again.

The sites were beautiful. In fact they were much more beautiful above water than below. The company was good and I enjoyed the trip.

I don't plan on doing anything like that again though. I have been diving for fun and pleasure for 15 years and associating with all ranges and types of divers. Throwing myself in with beginners made me feel WAY out of place. Almost all were in the training mode and NOT in the "have fun" mode. I found that I am very removed from the "in training" business.

Headed to Venice on Memorial Day for some offshore fossil hunting and maybe some land or river hunting.

Looking at Kayaks. Thinking about taking up the hobby of cruising the edges of the waterways here in search of fossils.

Do you know anything about hunting Bone Valley Florida?

 

[iamsharky]

Never hunted BV before. Dove Venice, snorkeled the peace but never any land hunts there for me. Was blessed to be able to hunt Aurora for 1.5 hrs one time. It was awesome. Google fossil clubs there. See if there is a hunt for the time you are there. I believe Fossil Babe does guided tours there as well. I hope to make it to Venice at least one time this year. Post pics.........

 

[FLRiverDiver]

LeeTaylor....

RE: Bone Valley Fossil Hunting

I haven't land hunted in quite a few years---when I get a chance to get away I head for a river!! That being said, my info is rather obsolete. Basically all the hunting areas in central Florida are on private land---most being phosphate mines---it has become somewhat difficult for someone, not in an organized group, to get access to these places.

Though I haven't been a member for a number of years, I still keep in contact with a couple of members of the Florida Palentological Society. They should have current information on areas where an individual may still be allowed to hunt. Their web site is: Florida Paleontological Society (FPS) and their general email address is :
fps@flmnh.ufl.edu. Give them a "holler" and possibly they can give you a few leads.

FLRiverDiver

 

[Lee Taylor]

I have been in contact with Debra (Fossilbabe) lately. I am hoping to get together with her Memorial Day weekend. I will not do Aurora again. Not my cup of tea. Had a BAD experience with them. Had to do with business ethics and that is something I take seriously.

Thanks for the references FLRiverDiver. Will follow those paths and see what information I can find.

Apparently Bone Valley was a hot spot for fossils many many years ago. It appears to cover a LARGE area. Its connected to the Peace River somehow and not far from Venice.

 

[FLRiverDiver]

Mr. Taylor---A little additional information.

If you have any extra time, aside from hunting, while down this way, there are two "attractions" that may be of interest to you.

In the heart of bone valley ( ~45 miles east of Tampa) is a small town named Mulberry. It has a museum (Google "Mulberry Phosphate Museum"), that has a nice collection of bone valley representative fossils.

Also, though a bit away from the bone valley area (but well worth the trip), is the Florida Museum of Natural History (another Google) in Gainesville. It has an outstanding fossil display including an articulated skeleton of an Eremotherium (giant ground sloth) that is one of several articulated from a treasure trove of bones that were collected from a borrow pit near Ormond Beach back when I-95 was being constructed.

FLRiverDiver

 

[Lee Taylor]

Thank you for the excellent reference. I viewed the site and googled the map. I put it on the list of things to see and investigate. Will report back