Anybody diving for Megs this winter??

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iamsharky

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In years past, I would go out and dive on days with surface temps slightly in the 40's-50's, with the water temp hovering around 50; but this year I just could not bring myself to do it. Maybe if there were more productive fossil sites.....

Anyway, wondering if anyone is doing any fossil diving this winter?? If so, PLEASE post some pics or a report, anything, cause I need a fossil fix....
 
I was up until my dive partner ruptured his ear drum about 3 weeks ago.

One of the good things about diving in the colder weather is the better visibility due to less algae in the water.

I have a new dive helmet set up I just CAN NOT wait to try out!!! It has three lights on it but I ma trying to make a better light mount for the top light though.

My latest is the 7" whale vert in my other post.
 
Yeah I get the fossil bug in the winter also. Mike and I live in one of the best fossil areas in the United States yet fossils are always elusive. I suppose fossils being elusive is what makes it fun. I am just not a cold water diver and so I have to take a LONG surface interval starting Oct-Nov and lasting till late April.

I will dig in my files and post some stuff just for fun.

Not a fossil but a cool find. Saw it at the Cypress Gardens Fossil show one year. An genuine American Indian Tomahawk. I thought this was way cool.
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Really nice Saber Tooth Tiger fang found in the Cooper River. Fossil show photo I took
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Ivory Tusk. Cypress Gardens Show material (not mine)
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Beautiful specimen. One of Bill Eberline's teeth
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More Ivory from the Cypress Show
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Angustidens belonging to the Ditch Weezle
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Teeth I found in the Cooper River
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One more.

One of my favorites. I found this fossil while digging next to a shipwreck offshore North Myrtle Beach South Carolina. First I dug up a LARGE Horseshoe crab. It was totally under the soft sand pile next to the shipwreck. I was shocked to find it alive and in some sort of deep slumber. I then uncovered this fossil. I looked up the name but have since forgot. I knew what I had immediately.
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Mike, you are right the visibility is the best this time of year, no doubt. Cool vert! I used to not even pick those up, but now I do, especially when I am not finding any teeth.

Lee, thanks for the pics, that may bide me over for a few days! That full grooved axe was sweet along with the saber and shark teeth. if you are on a ledge and digging up those scallops, there HAS to be teeth there. I hope to do a ledge dive sometime soon. we were supposed to dive the cooper, i believe last year, but joy? got sick. take care bud.
 
Man, I can not WAIT to go out now! My lights are supposed to be delivered today but I will be surprised with all the weather the east has been getting.

We need to get a group together and dive the Cooper!!!!!
 
There are teeth everywhere in the Charleston and surrounding area. Apparently one only needs to get through the so called "Overburden" and get into the fossil layers. The rivers cut through this Overburden so that fossils are exposed. This gives an indicator as to how thick the Overburden is in that particular area. If you were to excavate a 30 foot deep hole next to the Cooper River and sift through the material I feel sure you would find LOTS of fossils. Of course the cost is prohibitive. More later.
 
I had not thought about it Sharky, but now that you mention it, the ledge offshore Charleston with the limestone bed surely has all sorts of fossils in it. But I have got to tell you the limestone is like concrete. Not quite as hard and a little more crumbly when dry, but it is some tuff stuff. (isn't cement made out of limestone?) I was stabbing and digging like mad with my dive knife. I was intent on digging the large fossilized scallop out and taking it home. Cleaning the scallop was difficult. The front face was clear but the rear was filled with hardened limestone and that made it very heavy. I used a Dremel metal bladed cutter and just kept at it. Some of the softer places I used dental tools. I will post a close up photo of the rear so you can see what is left of the limestone. From my knowledge, finding limestone is a sure sign you are getting close to finding fossils.
 
Ok just for fun here is a look at the limestone remaining on the rear of the fossilized scallop I found in the limestone bed offshore Charleston. I would have removed all of the limestone but I had that feeling one gets when it is getting ready to break. So I stopped. There is a fossilized shell attached to the rear of it. Apparently one of the divers had one under his arm the size of a diner plate. He was really upset because he unintentionally let it slip back into the deep while climbing back onto the boat. He said he did not have to dig for his.

 
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