Cumberland Island
November 27 - 31, 2003

Pictures by: R.J. and Rick Jacquot


In 2003, we were back at the island for another few days of fossil hunting and exploring. This time we were visiting at the end of November, even though the weather was mild during the day, it was quite chilly in the morning and especially on the return ferry trip in the evening. We were staying at the St. Marys Motel on the mainland so had to take the boat back and forth to the island each day. At left, R.J. is bundled up for the cold ride over to the island.


Left: R.J. in front of the Dungeness ruins. We see a lot of wildlife on the island. In our many visits, we have encountered: Wild horses, armadillos, raccoons, all types of birds, rattlesnakes, a herd of wild boar, turtles, and too many more for me to remember and list. The first couple of days the weather was great. Once the sun was up, it was perfect weather for digging and hiking and exploring. We spent time on the ocean side exploring the beach and a lot of time searching the dredge piles for fossils.


Marker buoy on the inland waterway. R.J. getting ready for some fossil hunting.


At left: Jerome. Jerome was the ship mate on the Cumberland Queen that took us back and forth to the island. He was the man who first told me where to hunt fossils on the island back in the 1990s. He has found several nice megalodon teeth in the past that reached 4" and larger. Jerome has since retired from the US Park Service. At right: Big fat bird resting on a dock post at the St. Marys pier.


A couple of shots of boats and ships we saw on the trip to the island.


R.J. next to the fountain near the Dungeness Mansion, and some weather worn trees in the sand dunes on the beach side of the island.


Left: This is one of my favorite pics of me and R.J. digging the dredge piles for treasure. After a few hours of digging, the sky began to cloud up. We kept putting off packing up and leaving the open area we were in. That was a mistake! Before we were able to get more than a few hundred yards towards the shelter of the woods, the storm hit. It rained harder than I think I have ever seen it rain. We were soaked to the bone.


We finally made it to one of the historic buildings on the island that holds many old artifacts used by the early people that lived there. It also contains a restroom with an electric hand dryer. We spent a couple of hours, removing our clothes piece by piece and drying them under the hand dryer. We had lunch and when the rain finally let up, we made our way back to the boat dock to catch the ferry back to the mainland. This is another favorite picture of mine. It is the last picture I have of me and R.J. together on the island. We shared a fun adventure that I will never forget. The picture on the right is a shot of the pier and ships and boats at St. Marys where we were staying.


Just a few of the sharks teeth and fossils we collected during our trip.


R.J. did very well on our trip. The 3 1/2" meg tooth and other teeth and bones are ones he found. The big tooth he found was actually pretty funny. We had been digging all day finding small bones and small teeth. I told him to start packing up to get ready to go. He threw his army shovel over next to his backpack and it knocked some sand out of the way to expose the 3" meg that was sitting next to his pack just an inch or so underground. I never saw anyone kiss a shark tooth until he found that one that day.