Eclectic Arcania: My Refugio Fossil Fest 2015

The last time I got out of my cage to rockhound was on September 4, 2014... today was March 11, 2015 (four-year anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, on an unrelated note). That is to say it has been a half-year and a week since last I rockhounded. Today I rockhounded. That was not "my" original plan for the day but often the best things in life are things that happen "off-the-cuff" or "spontaneously." Today I picked up a dear loved one from a medical facility in Long Beach and drove them home. On the way home we stopped at Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County on the Gaviota Coast to unwind. There I looked around in the newly-sorted cobbles on the "beach" as I have done in the past. Unlike in the past, I found an abundance of interesting and even unexpected things, all in a rather small section of beach and in only about an hour's time. Earlier this winter some fairly vigorous wave events churned this coastline refreshing the cobbles and stones along the coast. As many of you know this coastline is famous for its petrified whale bone and less commonly, petrified wood and even sharks teeth and on rare occasions, whole shark jaws and whale brain casts. Today's visit was my most fruitful one ever for any location along the Gaviota Coast and I recommend my rockhound brethren check this place before the summer wave pattern starts dumpting sand atop some of this material. Pictured below are each of the items I found today.