Probably whale vertebrae

[jamesp]

Found in the dredgings of a ship corridor being piled on the beach of Amelia Island,east coast of Florida

[johnjsgems]

A lot of nice detailing on something that small. Marine mammal for sure. Nice find.

[Fossilman]

Yes James thats whale bone.........Great find!

[jamesp]

I think some of them are real big.That one is only 5 inches across.Thanks for ID

[Peruano]

I certainly don't want to start an anti-fed rant or tirades, but it probably is illegal to collect and possess. The marine mammal protection act can be toothy about any "parts" and if I had any such parts I would n't advertise them. The fed is not likely to act on minor occurrences but strange things set them off.
The same things could be said about some of the native american artifacts discussed on forums that come from federal lands.
Just saying. Tom

[johnjsgems]

Good point. Tom. We used to collect at Jalama Beach. It is a fairly famous whale bone area as are the beaches around there. The feds started confiscating whale bone (fossil/agatized) under the marine mammal act. After a lot of conflict they were finally made to understand the bone has been replaced so no longer marine mammal. No problem, now they say they fall under the antiquities act. Sad thing to me is the beach bone is being ground to sand by the tide so what exactly are they preserving? Like you I cringe when someone posts a nice piece of dino bone they found.

[jamesp]

Large shark teeth and some whale bone is being dredged out of the gap between Cumberland and Amelia Island.A 36 inch pipe and a 16 cyl. diesel as big as a house to make the pass deeper for the mighty nuclear subs to pass from King's Bay.They build miles of beach erosion back up with the dredgings.Hundreds of people are collecting when they dredge.They would have to bring the whole Marine Corp to put down the riot if they even thought about talking like that.I think the fact that the fossils are arriving in the form of dredgings and the touchy environmental situation of disturbing and silting we are safe.Priorities also,Florida w/out a beach!It's OK to tear up stuff if the government.....blah blah,i don't want to get it started either.
The Triton and probably newer models.I have clocked them on a fishing boat radar of unimaginable speeds.I must have calaulated the speed wrong,too fast.That is a most secretive operation.

[bhiatt]

pretty cool. Thats a nice size one too.
I wouldnt be to worried over 1 whale vertebrae. There are hundreds of dino bones and whale verts being sold on eBay. The only ones I hear of being confiscated is when there is a whole dino that is found or being sold, especially if it is an undocumented species. If it is agatized it isnt bone to begin with and paleontogist dont even want the stuff. They are anti agate.

You can collect on BLM but not national parks. There is a limit you can collect before you have to have a permit. Its quite a bit and most likely you will not find over the limit if you are just searching the ground.
Before 1974 guys were using dynomite to expose bone on the sides of cliffs. Thats when truckloads were being hauled away.

[Fossilman]

I read all laws about collecting fossils and dino bones.Each state has their different rules and regulations.
In Montana and North Dakota,I could collect fossils(invertbra) and some loose dino bones without turning them in.(If whole dino's,or parcels are found,you turn it in)...(simple logic)
Oregon you have to get a permit to collect some bone and or fossil.......
We can keep anything that isn't whole and or all invertbra fossils...No digging on hillsides,etc.....
James whale bone is legal to collect,I know people here that have whale bone,hopefully I will too,some day....

[jamesp]

Florida has a $5 permit for vertibrates and non verts are fair game.No collecting on state land though,which limits a lot of spots because water ways are mostly state property/parks.

[Sabre52]

Looks very much like the whalebone I used to find on the Ventura/Santa Barbara coastline. Sad the hear the feds are now getting into the action on whalebone too. Like John has said it all eventually gets ground up anyway and more keeps getting exposed and washed down the streams so it's a renewable stone....Mel

[jamesp]

Thanks for the input on the law and ID.Good to hear the different opinions and feelings about the government.I know there is an endless supply in Florida many feet deep of so many fossils.

[johnjsgems]

Some of the ranches a little inland from the coast have whale bone in their hills. Also lots of other marine fossils. The public lands are on the beach though. Last time at Jalama I was carrying a bucket of shells and beach rocks. The rangers made me dump the bucket so they could inspect. They found no bones, fossils, or Indian relics so walked away. This was quite a few years ago now.

[jakesrocks]

James, it's a shame you can't get on the Kings Bay Base to collect. I was stationed there when it first changed hands from Army munitions depot to Navy Nuke sub base, and collected a lot of nice shark teeth in the area. Great fishing right off the pier too.

Wale vertebrae from Shark Tooth Hill in California isn't as solid as the Florida pieces are.

[jamesp]

I am from several generations of Amelia Island.We could see King's Bay from the north tip.Collected shark's teeth for years on the beach.They have been dumping those dredgings from several miles out on to Amelia's beaches for at least 30 years.They are rich in fossils.The trick to fossils in Florida is finding excavated material.
I am glad you got to experience the area.It is a pretty place.My family ran a couple of 200 foot manhaden fishing boats on the north tip of Amelia and shared the pass w/the subs going out to sea.They did'nt like us dialing radar in on them.

[Deleted]

these are all great stories.

the level of legalities keeps escalating. Soon we won't be able to kick a rock when hiking.

rockpickforever got harassed by an overbearing BLM officer while hunting crystals recently. This hobby of rockhounding is coming to an end, as are most things that are pleasurable.

That old joke --->

Q: How are you??

A: Great, any better and they'd pass a law against it!...

--> is coming true.

I see fully agatized and gem quality whale bones collected on SoCal beaches that are as gorgeous as that dinosaur stuff found in Utah. Illegal to pickup.

Perhaps Elementary will comment.

[jamesp]

I must stay in Georgia.I feel free to collect stuff here.Even artifacts are rarely scrutinized by our enforcement groups.I always feel like looking over my shoulder in Florida.It is legal to collect my fossils and corals in Florida but artifacts are common in the rare coral exposure locations.Because ancient man would live near the coral(Florida is about all sand) for a source of tool material.