Fossiling With My Fella

We haven't had any rain around here for nearly a month and it is still our rainy season (as I write this, we are finally getting some much needed rain).

Everything is dry and the level of the Peace River's water has dropped.

This dryness has been hard on plants and yards but it is perfect for fossil hunting along the river and its tributaries, like the Charlie Apopka.

Last week The Colonel and I packed up the kayaks and made for the part of the Peace River that is north of us. The river was so low in spots that we had to get out of our kayaks and pull them behind us or leave them completely behind us as we walked the couple inches of water covering the riverbed.

As we walked the river, we spied many remnants of fossilized Dugong rib bones. These bones were larger than those we have found in the past. (The three smaller rib bones next to the dollar bill are those we found earlier and the larger ones are the ones we found during this fossil hunting trip).

We couldn't believe the size of some of these fossils. These are just pieces of the rib bones. We imagined what an entire rib bone would look like. The animal they came from must have been gigantic.

I am holding the tip of a rib bone in my hand below.

The circumference of some of the fossilized rib bones was nearly that of a soda can.

The Colonel found this vertebra bone. It is roughly the size of a coffee cup.

I found this part of a leg bone. The larger end of the leg bone is about the size of my fist.

The Colonel and I also dug down into the riverbed and found a few sharks teeth.

No Megalodon teeth...yet.

I wouldn't mind finding one like this lady is holding.

Even though we did not unearth anything like that pictured above, we had a terrific day.

We will be entering the real dry season soon and I look forward to lower water levels on the Peace River as well as the Charlie Apopka so that I can go fossiling with my fella again.