FOSSILGUY.COM

Please note, the Mine is CLOSED to collecting - This is an older trip report from 2007. Please don't call the mine or museum asking to fossil hunt in the mine. You can still fossil hunt at the mine tailings in front of the museum. Go to the Aurora page for more information.

Spring Fossil Hunting Trip from March of 2007

Our first fossil trip of the year started off with a bang. We went to Antarctica in search of various undescribed dinosaur species with a Russian research team. Oops... I mean we went to Aurora for the spring 2007 season.

The plan was to leave a day early at 1:00 am to try our luck at Green’s Mill Run. After accidentally sleeping in, Amy and I departed our commonwealth promptly at 5:30 am hitting rush hour in various cities. The fossil bus arrived at Green’s Mill Run 10 hours later. All excited, we leaped from the car into our waders. We then leaped into the stream and quickly leaped out, as the water level was VERY high. That morning, there were severe storms. I assumed the storms would help the fossil scene at the stream. Instead, it just submerged it. We spent a few hours leapfrogging about, not finding much. Finally, deciding we are not leapfrogs; we left the stream to head to our B&B winery for some R&R.

The next day was our Aurora trip. About 40 some eager beavers joined us for the opening of the spring season. The collecting area looked great. Guides spoke of ample Yorktown and ample collecting space. They were right! Off we went into the mine. After searching for a few hours and only finding broken makos, I started to get disillusioned. Finally, Amy found a beautiful 2 7/8" megalodon shark tooth. She showed it to me, and I quickly yelled, "Find a bigger one!" Luckily I said that, because she took those words to heart. About an hour later, she shouted something across one of the ridges at me. The wind carried her faint words... "I found a bigger one!" She had found a reworked 4 5/8" megalodon. The serrations were missing, but it still looked great! The day ended with me being megless, but hey, Amy found two. I wasn’t complaining. This had been a VERY good day at Aurora. By days end, many people had megs, including a beautiful 6+" megalodon.

Thank you PCS for allowing us to collect!

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Below are the fossil found adn additional images from the 2007 mine in Aurora, NC

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Recommended Books for North Carolina Fossil Collecting:

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Shark Tooth Hunting on the Carolina Coast

by Ashley Oliphant, 2015

This is a great field guide for locating and identifying fossil shark teeth on the beaches of North and South Carolina. It is filled with clear photographs and easy to read descriptions.
There's not too many books about North Carolina Sharks teeth. This one is pretty good!

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Fossil Shark Teeth of the World

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 North Carolina teeth can be found in it.

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Seal/Dolphin ~ Phoca/Stenella: A Skeletal Comparison of Two Marine Mammals

by John R. Timmerman, 1997

This is a very good book if you want to attempt to identify the numerous bone fragments encountered at this site.
This book can be purchased through the North Carolina Fossil Club - When at their website, click on the publications tab.

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Recommended Link

ELASMO.COM

The best site on the web for fossil shark teeth! It's dedicated to Aurora and many other sites!

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Get Your Very Own Megalodon Tooth:

These are Authentic Megalodon teeth sold by Fossil Era , a reputable fossil dealer (that I personally know) who turned his fossil passion into a business. His Megalodon teeth come in all sizes and prices, from small and inexpensive to large muesum quality teeth. Each tooth has a detailed descriptions and images that include its collecting location and formation. If you are looking for a megalodon tooth, browse through these selections!