[meteorite-list] Similarities between Meteorite Hunting and Beach-Combing

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:46:45 -0400
Message-ID: <e51421550909220846m6337d5d0n7ff28d3ca8ad712c_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi List,

Please forgive the somewhat-whimsical nature of this post. Last week
I was fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time on Indian Shores
and Indian Rocks beaches in Pinellas County Florida. My wife and I
walked several miles of beach, every morning and every evening (and
plenty in-between as well) for an entire week. In addition to
meteorites and rocks, we also collect seashells and I was on the hunt
the entire time.

One thing that struck me, as I meandered down the sandy shores, was
that hunting for meteorites in the field must share some similarities
with hunting valuable seashells.

1) Both require a sharp eye that can distinguish a possible "hit" from
the multitudinous background of common or worthless items and
fragments. In my mind, this is similar to hunting for black
meteorites on a busy desert pavement. There is a lot of visual
overload in every glance - tons of tiny objects that are mostly
worthless or not of interest. And then without warning, you spot
something unusual and stoop down to inspect it. If it's a rare type
of shell or something very beautiful, then you hold it up like a
little kid, dance up and down, and then proudly show it to anyone who
cares to look.

2) You do a lot of walking and more walking, and then some more
walking. If you don't enjoy hiking, beach-combing, or just walking
around out in nature, then you probably aren't cut out for meteorite
hunting or shelling. I guess the best way to put it is - you must
love the chase.

3) Interface with the locals. It helps to be friendly and observant
when entering a new community in search of your prize. Pay attention
to what the locals are doing and be very considerate of their local
laws and customs. Whether you are meteorite hunting or hunting
conchs, you never want the locals mad at you. Also, the locals know
the area much better than you. Search engines and Google Earth can
only tell you so much - the rest is learned through trial and error,
or interfacing with the locals.

4) Where there is one rare or desirable type of shell, there is likely
to be more. Places for shelling run hot and cold. You might walk a 2
mile stretch and not find anything of note and then you hit a hotspot
that is loaded with uncommon shells. These shell-rich areas are like
a strewnfield, so it pays to stop and spend some time hunting out that
area. Frequently, I would walk a grid in the knee-deep surf with my
scoop-basket, pulling up cones, conchs, scallops, rocks, and anything
else that caught my eye. (or I felt with my foot) My wife walked the
tideline, several feet away, and we systematically hunted entire
stretches of beach right after sunrise. I pity anyone who came along
after us, expecting to find something extraordinary.

However, one thing I did notice that is different about shelling and
meteorite hunting is - every time I tried to document my finds, I
would lose my scale cube in the surf. My GPS also got wet, and after
the first in-situ photo, it fried out on me. ;)

Best regards from sunny Florida,

MikeG

PS - the metal detector yielded very little. Lots of bottlecaps, some
pocket change, lots of foil wrappers, and big ugly chunk of scrap iron
buried 12 inches down near the storm line.

-- 
.........................................................
Michael Gilmer (Florida, USA)
Member of the Meteoritical Society.
Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
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..........................................................

Received on Tue 22 Sep 2009 11:46:45 AM PDT