We went fossil-hunting on the Lower Peace River last week. After scouting some new places and striking out on the last few trips, we decided to return to an old favorite that has been kind to us in the past – the same location where we have found large sections of mammoth tusk and other goodies. This trip did not disappoint. While I didn’t find any “bucket list” items myself, my partner found a Giant Ground Sloth claw core and a nearly-intact Pleistocene turtle encased in clay. The former is quite rare and the latter was in a favorable state of preservation. He found those while diving in a hole near our mammoth spot. I played the role of “gator watch” (more necessary now in this hot weather) and I spent the majority of my time covering ground and sifting gravel. I found an interesting mix of Miocene shark teeth (no Megalodons unfortunately), a couple of nice vertebrae, and a bunch of unidentified bone bits.
The river at this spot was lower than we had ever seen it at this particular stretch and it opened up new areas for searching that were previously under 4-5 feet of additional water. This lowering of the river levels may hold up for one more week until the summer rains begin in earnest and we plan on possibly hitting this area again before the rains make it unsearchable. Speaking of rains, the forecast was for dry weather, but we got rained on. After searching the mammoth spot, we headed further downstream to another productive spot. Upon arriving, we were greeted with a tangled mess of downed trees blocking one of our gravel beds. These were deposited here by the unseasonable floods that came during our absence over this past winter. Those same flood waters also dropped a television set on the banks, which was an odd sight to behold – sitting there, lonely and out of place. I mean, seriously, who throws a TV into the river? It must have been the legendary Florida Man.
We didn’t have much time to search this second spot, because storm clouds gathered – cutting off the sun and reducing the river’s visibility. Then, in defiance of the forecast, the sky turned angry and began to rain on us. So we quickly paddled back upstream to avoid getting completely soaked, and not knowing if this storm would be accompanied by the lightning that Florida is well known for. Thankfully, the rain was not torrential and we were spared the usual lightning strikes. On the way back to the boat ramp, the rain tapered off and we decided to briefly explore a babbling creek that yielded no finds.
All in all, it was a successful trip. Not as successful as I would have liked, but I did come home with a sack of fossils to add to my collection and store inventory. With some luck, we will get one more trip out before the season closes.
In my "swag" photo : the beer can is a late 70's artifact from the days when "All Aluminum Can" was a marketing hook. Shown in a separate photo is a large chunk of Miocene hash that I recovered. It's loaded with invertebrates and calcite replacement material.
Genuine fossils from this expedition available at - https://www.galactic-stone.com
Photo credits : All photos by me, Michael Gilmer.