The NJ Miocene Season Opener

I was finally able to get back out to my favorite Eocene/Miocene stream which I stayed away from for a while as not to annoy too many hunters and fishermen (one hunter had a tree stand overlooking my favorite spot throughout the winter). Also, with all the rain we’ve had, the deeper water in said stream has been pretty much unworkable. Well hunting season is over, the trout fisherman are moving on to bass and the water level has finally dropped - its time to find some big(ger) teeth!! That was my attitude before the trip and as it turned out, I wasn’t disappointed. I went right to work at my favorite spot hoping that it wasn’t depleted from my last couple of visits in early fall and I needed to move no further. The teeth were almost jumping into the screen. It was one of the best days I’ve ever had. While no Carcharocles showed up, I did manage two killer Makos (one is missing a root lobe but killer none-the less), a nice Hemipristis lower, a pristine Eocene Tiger shark tooth - Galeocerdo latidens and a couple of really nice Carcharias sp. teeth. In the “would have been killer if it was whole” category, which I’ve become so very familiar with, were a Sand Tiger tooth that would have been in the 2" to 2 1/8" range whole and a Parotodus benedeni which I didn’t recognize until after I got home. What a way to start the season!!