At the bottom of the sea
Saul Mendoza, heavy equipment mechanic, opened the gates to Vulcan Materials in Brooksville for fossil enthusiasts of all ages. They seek the fossilized remains of what once flew, swam, crawled or even walked on this earth millions of years ago.
The Tampa Bay Fossil Club has been active since 2002 and last Saturday kicked off their first Vulcan Mine field trip for 2017.
Mendoza got involved with the fossil hunt back in 2002 when he was asked to escort a group of fossil hunters through the mine. He also helps the field trip leaders with questions and fossil identification, as well as safety awareness around the dig site.
Wayne Simmons, a member of the Tampa Bay Fossil Club said, “I have always been interested in fossils; I used to race cars, (but) that got expensive. (I) went from fast and furious to slow and tedious.”
Fred Hendershot has been involved with the Tampa Bay Mineral and Science Club (Tampa Bay Rock club) since 1997 and in ’98 he became the field trip director. In 2000 he got involved in the Tampa Bay Fossil Club and became their field trip director.
“I have hunted fossils on and off most of my life. Growing up in West Virginia behind the house was a creek and there were shell layers and (we would) find fossil ferns and down a mile we would find shells,” Hendershot said.
The fossil hunters grabbed their picks and buckets and set out to find some of the common fossils embedded in the limestone which once was the bottom of the sea; Clypeaster Subdepresus (Sand Dollars), Phymotaxis Mansfieldi (Sea Urchins) and Rhyncholampas Gouldi (Sea Biscuits).
Stephen Spelman, accompanied by his son’s Cub Scouts pack 149, from Wesley Chapel said,
“It’s very important that you are active in your children’s lives… So it was actually a really important day for us to be out here and now he wants to pursue it,” Stephen Spelman said.
“I found a lot of good things and got (some) good fossils,” Matthew Spelman said. “Maybe one day I will add this to a collection.”
Not only is this a great adventure for kids but for adults of any age.
For more information about the Tampa Bay Fossil Club and their next visit to Vulcan Mine, please visit their website at http://www.tampabayfossilclub.com/