Fossil Hunting in Purse State Park, Charles County

Recently I was in Charles County with some friends on a school trip along the Port Tobacco River. Backed by a fiery red sunset and towering cliffs reminiscent of Calvert Cliffs, we were walking along the thin strip of beach when one of us found a small black shark tooth. Then we found another, and another one, until we found two dozen in all. Some were as long as half my pointer finger, and most were jet black and surprisingly razor sharp. Showing them to our teacher, who happens to teach environmental science, he explained that they were fossilized teeth up to 60 million years old eroded from the surrounding cliffs. Two weeks later, I felt the itch to find more shark teeth. Something about holding something from before humans existed intrigued me. So doing my own research, I visited Purse State Park along the Potomac River. Unlike most of our state parks, Purse is undeveloped. It sits on a hilly road without houses on either side for miles. Most of the surrounding land is tied up in other state-owned parks, so it is very tranquil. It has a small parking area next to a sign for Nanjemoy Wildlife Management Area. It doesn’t even have it’s own sign. Across the street is one trail, flat and about 1/2 a mile, down to the beach. You must search at low tide, because at high tide, the beach disappears against the base of the cliff. Stepping out of the sandy forest, I was greeted by the calm Potomac River. There were no boats and no people. If there wasn’t garbage, I would have felt almost deserted on an island. I started searching to my right, but it wasn’t until I made it up the beach a ways before I found my prizes. Searching along the base of the cliff found me 5 teeth, but in the small gravel along the tide line by the water was the jackpot. Sifting through the cold water, I developed a keen eye for spotting the glistening sharp teeth. Most were smaller, about the size of my finger nail, but the numbers were outstanding. All in all, I found 61 teeth in about 2 hours, 30 minutes of which was spent taking pictures and picking up garbage. Later research revealed they were from extinct species like the sand tiger shark and the goblin shark. As the tide swallowed up the beach I returned to my Jeep satisfied. Unfortunately the low tide that morning was early, and I was the first one there. On way back I passed families just arriving hoping to find their own teeth, unaware of the treasures they had just missed. I am not a fossil hunter, but some further research revealed Purse State Park is a popular spot. There were some cool things I didn’t find, like various cooler-looking teeth and a spiral shaped snail shell called turritella, but this only furthers my urge to come back. Fossil hunting is an easy way for anybody to hold some of Maryland’s ancient history in our hands.