Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Fossil Found by Seagrape Trail.Ken A. sent in this photo. He found this item up by Seagrape Trail.
I mentioned a few days ago that you can find fossils around there. This is one. It is a fossilized scute (plate or scale), probably of a gator, - perhaps Ice Age.
You can find fossils on several beaches of the Treasure Coast when the conditions are right. They are often found in piles of shells.
A variety of 16th Century artifacts including beads and iron tools recently found in south Georgia provide evidence that de Soto may have traveled more south and east than previously thought.
Here is the link to that story.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/11/111101-conquistador-america-de-soto-science-spanish-glass/
When the water is rough, it can keep you from detecting part of the beach. It can be difficult and even dangerous to hunt the low tide zone during while the seas are rough. Not only will the water make it difficult to detect, but there can also be logs and other debris that can hit you and knock you off of your feet.
I often recommend a loose zigzag pattern to scan a beach when you don't have any particular spot that you want to detect. A zigzag pattern can help you find the most productive zones for detecting.
You'll often find that coins are found in a line or area either high on the slope, middle of the slope or down at the waters edge. You can use a zigzag pattern to find any coin lines that there might be. It can also help you find a coin hole.
But when the water is as rough as it has been lately, you might want to consider an alternate scan pattern. If you get to the beach at low tide or when the tide is coming in, you might want to scan the area lowest on the beach first. Walk along the water moving either north or south and as far out to the east as you can get and scan that area first. The tide will be coming in, so then when you return in the other direction, do the same thing, but just a little higher on the beach, again staying as far to the east as you can. Work north and then south and so on, each time staying just out of the rough water and as far east as you can work.
When you come across a coin or interesting object, check that area more thoroughly. Mark that spot higher on the beach. Place a rock on the slope where the water will not wash it away. On your return trip, focus on the areas that you marked.
I was doing that the other day and on my first pass, I dug a few objects and marked them. On the way back, I could see where they were located, so then I shortened my scan pattern and worked the area around where the first finds were located.
That is one way to work an incoming tide to cover as much ground as possible while finding the best spots.
Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.
Conditions have not changed much in the last couple of days. I would rate them as being level 2.
If you look at the surf predictions, you'll see a slight drop off until Sunday when the seas pick up again. And then we have several days of near eight foot and higher seas. That looks promising.
The wind is now out of the east, which isn't ideal. And as you know, we have sand bars just in front of the beach and some slight building going on in some places. There are however, a few spots that remain pretty much at the level they eroded to a few days ago.
What looks good is that Saturday the wind is going to be coming from the north - if the predictions are correct. That could create some good cuts, even with the sand bars. We'll see.
Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net
