Onslow 11-2014

Deborah Young led a NC Fossil Club trip into Onslow Quarry on Saturday November 8, 2014. A last minute attempt was made to see if the club could hunt in this quarry, and the club was granted access. A minimum of five people was required and fortunately there were just enough people to fill the slots. The weather was somewhat warm and very sunny. A new area was open for collecting. It was relatively small but productive for echinoids. There were recently placed berms to hunt and other flat areas around the quarry. There were plenty of sand dollars showing their glory. There were a few crab claws appearing in the same type of material and some small but broken up teeth in various areas. There were also echinolampas fossils. During the last hour of day we were able to hunt within the main part of another area of the quarry. There a variety of shark teeth (mostly fragments) available to collect. The best finds in this area of the quarry were a beautiful cow shark tooth or Hexanchus agassizi and a sawshark rostrum tooth or Pristis lathami. Photographs of the day are shown below. One unexpected find was a recent black bear paw print. A close by deer skeleton on which the vultures were feeding was an indicator of a recent snack for the bear. I’m glad the bear kept his or her distance during this hunt. I think we would have had a battle for the Hexanchus, if it came down to it, since I found the tooth near the paw print. See links for additional information on both the Hexanchus and Pristis. The club is extremely grateful to Onslow Quarry management for allowing us in the mine to collect.