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Finding Whale Fossils along the Calvert Cliffs

Whale (Cetacean) Fossils and Fossil Shark Teeth

I had a little free time on my hands, so decided to spend it driving into a tropical depression that was just leaving the Chesapeake Bay area - Maryland and Virginia. I figured the strong winds and heavy rain would erode out some nice fossils. Perhaps a large fossil megalodon shark tooth would wash up. What I didn't count on was the really high water level and large post storm waves. I thought the water would be higher than normal, but this was flood waters. When driving down I noticed flooding signs, and peoples yards and parking lots underwater near the bay. There was also a small craft advisory in effect. I figured since a jetski can't really sink, I would just ignore it. So, deciding the glass is half full; I continued my way to the first boat launch and wrapped up in warm water resistant gear, making sure I fossil hunted during the lowest tides.

The plan was to simply explore. Launch at various ramps, and speed up and down the bay, rivers, and inlets looking for fossil exposures. This method is usually not very productive, but sometimes one can find a nice spot that produces the standard Miocene fossils or the less exposed Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene layers.

Once launched, and after battling the waves for 20 or so minutes, we ran across a half submerged boat that didn't survive the storm. I began to think I should pay more attention to a small craft advisory, but quickly thought of fossils again, and continued on my way. We reached the first potential fossil exposure near low tide. When pulling up though, we saw only 3 feet of beach, instead of the normal 20-50 feet of beach at low tide. We quickly changed strategies and decided to hunt the large clay blocks lying in the surf that the storm had just knocked down. Sometimes fresh fossil bone and shark teeth are found laying in the debris, just broken loose from their sediment.

This strategy proved to be successful. Although not allot of fossil shark teeth were found, including no megalodons, we managed to find a nice fossil crocodile tooth and some nice fossil cetacean material. This includes a really neat fossil baleen whale jaw and some kind of associated dolphin bones, which includes a perfectly preserved atlas vertebra, and some rib fragments. We had a really lucky fossil collecting trip!

Please note, no fossil were dug out of the cliffs. Digging in the cliffs is illegal. If you see a fossil sticking out of the cliffs and think it may be substantial, you should notify the Calvert Marine Museum. They can properly excavate the fossil.

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Below are the fossils found from the trip

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Recommended Books for Shark Tooth Identification

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Fossil Shark Teeth of the World
, A Collector's Guide
by Joe Cocke, Copyright 2002

A great book for identifying all those teeth. This book is laid out "as simple as possible." It's ease of use and small size makes it great to carry during collecting trips. This book shows teeth from around the globe, but all the Calvert teeth can be found in it.

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Fossil Sharks of the Chesapeake Bay Region
, A Collector's Guide
by Bretton W. Kent, Copyright 1994

This is a classic for identifying all those teeth at the Calvert Cliffs. It's a must for any beginner collector that fossil hunts in the Maryland/Virginia area.
Unfortunately, this book is out of print. There's used ones on amazon for super insane amounts of money, but SOMETIMES there is a used one available for a few bucks.