Pre-lockdown fossil hunt and prep: A full backpack and some mystery concretions

[@valiantwarrior4517]

Hey, you’re television famous! You deserve the recognition, sir. You do amazing work. It’s hard to believe you’re not a trained professional. Thanks for all the fun videos. I’m learning a lot.

[@akutyl2]

I love this format of hunting with some prep.

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'll try and do that if possible, it's a bit more work but I like the end product 😄

[@catherinehubbard1167]

Your ability to spot which rare rounded rocks out of the heaped expense of rounded rocks have the interesting fossils continues to amaze me. I love these videos. Thank you!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Yay! I'm glad you enjoy them!

[@dellwendybrown2713]

Not only do I enjoy watching your adventures but really I enjoy your smile and happy disposition. Thank you

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Dellwendy 😁 I'm glad you're enjoying the videos!

[@hymnthesiren6932]

"Looks really crabby" and "looks fishy" are quite possibly some of my favorite quotes from this channel

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hahahah I'll have to make t shirts 😁

[@DabblinDawn]

Love your videos! I never knew concretions were a thing until I saw your channel, so thank you for educating me. I like the videos, like this one, which include prepping the item. Great content!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hi Dawna! Glad you're enjoying the videos, I'm also learning so much just from everyone's comments. I'll have to start doing more prepping in each video. It might not be a full one as they take a few days. Thanks for letting me know 💙

[@ivantimofivichkuslov175]

That huge rock/island at 8:45 must have a lot of promising stuff around it.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Yip, it's a nature reserve though so can't go there as a colony of penguins lives there.

[@oscarseverinsen2659]

First time viewer I didn't even realize until the end what a crab fossil looks like. Definitely going to try this at my local beach and river.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hi Oscar! Welcome to the channel :) Hope you enjoy the videos. Hope you find a fossil at your beach and river!

[@timkbirchico8542]

Hi Mamlambo, I should be in the Northern Sahara with my Landy, on one of my stone tool collecting missions. Ive spent 3 months there every for the past 14 years. But not now! I get such a buzz every time I find a handaxe or some other tool. It's great to see you getting the same good buzz looking for your fossils. Keep it up mate!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Wow, that sounds amazing! Please send me some photos if you can. Yeah, I hope that excitement never goes away 😄

[@tejjensen9402]

The shrimp from Germany 19:46 were then absolutely fantastic Mamlambo - here in Denmark such a find would be called Danekræ and money would be paid for the discovery from the state. It would probably end up in a museum forever so everyone can enjoy the find. Good fossils do not belong in a collector's drawer IMO. Thanks for your great videos.

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'm unsure what the collector did with that shrimp, it might be in a museum by now 😄 Glad you are enjoying the videos!

[@huenchen82]

You are right, that is a museum quality "shrimp". Aeger comes from greek language and means "God of the sea". By now the preping time is about 260 hours and if it is finished i will show it to my friends of the Paleontological Institute of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, for sure! If you want to see more stuff of that quality: Solnhofen-Fossilienatlas.de This find comes from the Blumenberg, Eichstätt... Have a nice time, stay safe and all the best finds! Greets from Munich, Germany!

[@margiebrown7436]

I love the way you are always smiling. It always brightens my day. Thank you 😊

[@MamlamboFossils]

Glad it brightened your day Margie 😁

[@jeffinkoppel1]

Love the videos! They make the quarantine bearable! Good day! From my tiny town of Koppel, Pennsylvania USA!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Glad you enjoyed it 😄 Stay save over that side - hopefully this is soon all over.

[@jeremydiamond8824]

Mamlambo for sure thanks

[@billrobbins5874]

Very neat

[@kurttaz]

Yep absolutely agree with andrewkutylo, love a good hunt with a quick prep at the end💯💯

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'll definitely try and do that more 😄 Love the feedback from you all - otherwise I don't know what's good and not. Thanks for that!

[@tatwo_]

Just spent evening watching your videos. Awesome stuff. Love your enthusiasm. I want to go grab hunting too! Sadly Finland is not great place for that.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Glad you enjoyed it! 😁 I know Denmark has some amazing sea urchins, not sure about Finland though. There must be some crabs somewhere nearby! Keep well!

[@kellybuentiempo6924]

Bad ass! Thanks for sharing this. It is facinating! This is important work and that moves everything... Good on you lad!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Kelly!

[@shepherd4406]

I like the slide show. It is interesting to see fossils and the scenery from New Zealand. Thank you for sharing this with us. USA

[@jeremydiamond8824]

Hey man wanted to let ya know your famous here in the states my girlfriend who loves your vlogs and got me hooked on your UTube channel showed me on our national weather channel we have on our phone as an icon you can download but you were on there it had your name where you were in New Zealand 🇳🇿 and what you were showing was of course a fossilized crab 🦀 you were etching it out of the rock !! Don’t look now but your a 🌟 star !!😎🇺🇸 good job for what you love to do my friend !!🌞

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hiya Jeremy! That's awesome that it was one the Weather Channel, I heard they were interested in it but didn't know if they would use it. Thanks for letting me know 😄 It's great people are enjoying the same things as me, it's much more fun sharing it with you all than doing it alone. Keep safe that side!

[@aserta]

As an aside, at about 10:13, the big stone that's full of holes (the technical name for it escapes me at the moment) would make an excellent base for a Bonsai tree with roots wrapping around it.

[@MamlamboFossils]

I always keep an eye out for seedlings that would make good bonsais when I'm out and about, it would be really cool to have a bonsai on a fossil rock!

[@stanleydaniels100]

When a new vid of yours gets posted its nice to know your staying happy, healthy and safe. Great vid once again.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Daniel! New Zealand has a very low infection rate, we are very lucky. Stay safe that side!

[@stanleydaniels100]

@@MamlamboFossils Will do over here. Here in Maine its been low on infections as well based on we have a low population in this state. Hope it stays that way for both our places we call home.

[@bonesstones6584]

Great video, it's interesting that the shape of a concreation will follow the general shape of the fossil inside. I wonder why?

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'm not sure, there must be a scientific paper on it somewhere 😄

[@Anubis30224]

@@MamlamboFossils I'm fairly certain that it's due to the rock having something to form against. Like bubbles in a soda bottle.

[@MamlamboFossils]

@@Anubis30224 That's a great explanation :)

[@gregreeves2234]

All those thousands upon thousands of rocks...and you find the ones with treasures! Good for you!

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'm sure I miss more than a few, just leaves some for next time 😄 Keep well Greg!

[@FollowingGhost]

Great trip and good timing on the post. Pain hit about 10 PM so I am laying in bed hoping meds kick in and needed something fun to watch. Enjoying seeing the fossils at the end everyone sends keep them coming.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Ah man, that sucks! I hope you feel better soon, glad the video can help a bit. Stay safe!

[@FollowingGhost]

@@MamlamboFossils thanks but sadly it doesn't get better as I get older. Hope everyone is doing well and thank you for the likes on IG it means a lot.

[@clintonmorris8222]

Well done for showing some of the viewer finds! You do good work. Keep it up!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Clinton! Glad you enjoyed it 😁

[@Anubis30224]

Will you be uploading any prep videos during quarantine? I really do love them

[@MamlamboFossils]

I will! I'm working on the 50lb crab at the moment. It's a monster 😁

[@Anubis30224]

@@MamlamboFossils fantastic! He certainly is an intriguing creature! Wishing I wasn't constrained to the creeks of central North Carolina, USA. I'll have to live vicariously through you for now. Keep up the amazing work!

[@alliecollin1748]

God darling, you're amazing....you're so obviously knowledgeable and impart it so easily.....thanks darling!!! 💕💕💕🇬🇧

[@rawdognasty666]

came for the hunt stayed for the prep music the guitar didgeridoo captivated me thanks again

[@sarejen6868]

Cool you're a celebrity ! Nice finds it would be a blast learning what you know about fossils on a hunt!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hahaha don't know about celebrity 😄 I haven't been recognised in the shops yet!

[@steveclark4291]

Greetings from Kansas in the United States ! I just happened to come across your channel and subscribed ! Doing well here hope that you all are doing well there ! I love learning new things as it help keep my mind active ! I will 65 next month !

[@MamlamboFossils]

Glad you found the channel Steve! Hope you enjoy it, great that you're still learning things 😁 it sure does keep you young!

[@steveclark4291]

@@MamlamboFossils yes it does !

[@leeclark946]

That fossil shrimp wow !

[@MamlamboFossils]

I know, right?! Such good preservation on it.

[@ivantimofivichkuslov175]

Dig dive discover. Im pretty sure that channel is the reason why im here too. Cool beans!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Welcome aboard! DigDiveDiscover is a really cool channel as well :)

[@RicardoJunqueira]

More prep videos! And why don't you clean out all the crab out of the stone? Why leave it with a shelf?

[@MamlamboFossils]

If you remove all the rock, the fossil becomes quite weak and you can't handle it as easily. I like being able to pass it around when people want to see it 😄

[@Zillustration]

has anyone of your friends combed the beaches of the island? 8:36

[@MamlamboFossils]

It's a nature reserver with a colony of penguins on it, so you aren't allowed to land on it.

[@randomconsumer4494]

Your videos are better than a lot of similar videos because like half the video is having a sit down and taking a good look at the finds.

[@huenchen82]

My gosh, everytime you post some of your stuff this plague feels a little more comfortable; You are a kind of light in a crisis like this. Lets hope we can all get along, staying healthy, doing what we all want to do as well; Do some fossil hunting, hang around with our friends and the family, just getting our normal life back to where it belongs. May the jurassic be with you ;-)

[@MamlamboFossils]

Glad the videos can help a tiny bit! Can't wait to get out there and explore again, thanks for your message and stay safe on that side! 😄

[@fluffykat1]

I found your channel through imgur and I'm really happy I did! Your videos are so soothing and very cool to watch!

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'm also glad you did! If you run out of videos to watch and feel like watching some more, I've got a rockhounding channel as well 😄

[@Happyhandcannon]

Nice finds! You ever check that island shore?

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'd love to but it has a colony of penguins on it and is a nature reserve so you cannot land on it.

[@Happyhandcannon]

@@MamlamboFossils Ah, don't upset the tuxedo bird : )

[@manuelbotello6969]

Loved it thank u for showing my photos it was awesome

[@manuelbotello6969]

I got some more but crystals from a shallow cavern I dug in to a few years back

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks so much for sending them, they were awesome!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Oooh, send me a photo please. Sounds interesting :)

[@Zerojquan]

How did you learn this skill? And what tools do i need to prep the fossil out of the rock? I am really interested! 🙏🏼🙏🏼 Love your videos

[@MamlamboFossils]

I practiced on broken fossils till I got confident enough to try a crab 😁 it's just practice and taking things slow. You can start with a pin vice and needles or a cheap engraver. Mine is a Pneumatic engraver based on the cp9361 from Chicago Pneumatic. Thanks for watching 😁

[@billcamellre5726]

Hi Mamlambo what tips and good information would you have for a complete novice back in Australia thinking of trying to start up cheers .

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'd join up with a local rockclub, its way easier to go with someone that knows the area and what to look for.

Beautiful videos my dear. Quarentena no Brasil esdá grande e evitamos sair de cada. Esse é o melhor local paracpassar o isolamento.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks so much! Brazil always look beautiful, glad the quarantine is going well! Stay safe :)

[@phillipdavis3705]

It's very beautiful there!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Yeah it really is! Everywhere looks like a National geographic special!

[@ivantimofivichkuslov175]

9:55 Wow! I wish i can take my family to places like these..

[@MamlamboFossils]

There are some beautiful places here in New Zealand!

[@tomgarzaiii7111]

Excellent video, as always.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Tom! Glad you enjoyed it. 😄

[@jjoyce73]

What is the interpretation for the abundance of crabs at this site? Is it a mass death assemblage during a spawn, like the huge swarms of crabs on Christmas Island, or in the Bering Sea? Are these land or marine crabs?

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hiya Jim. These are ocean crabs, the area used to be 200m under water. The crabs lived in burrows so perhaps large sediment deposits buried them. Could be from earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.

[@randomconsumer4494]

What do you do with the 1s that are empty? Do you hual all of that stone back to the beach?!

[@chova1000]

Nice as always, thanks for share

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Osvaldo!

[@aserta]

You should just use a dolly if the land permits it vs using a backpack. Set the tires just past half filled and you can really move weight around with them.

[@MamlamboFossils]

I've got a little wagon that I use now and again for the bigger rocks, some of the areas you can't use it though as the land is too rocky. Good tip about filling the tyres half!

[@jaynehorn151]

So in another video you said you would start doing copies but not sell prepped fossils. Is that a legal restriction in NZ? Do you fossil hunt as part of career or hobby?

[@MamlamboFossils]

Yip, as far as I know, I cannot send most fossils out of New Zealand without a permit and would need more paperwork to sell them. I think copies is a good way to do it, cheaper and gives more people one to have. The copies will be made up of plaster and the ground-up chips that I removed from the fossil, so will have some of the original fossil in it :)

[@ccccarriemchardy9216]

Happy Easter! 5.47 left looked like a skull?

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hiya Carrie, happy Easter to you too! It did look very similar to my whale skull I found there. I'll go investigate next time I'm there, thanks for pointing it out 😄

[@rebeccalucysmith9689]

Is it possible that bone piece is a water worn vertebrae, that why there’s a hole in the middle?

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hi Rebecca, I think you might be right, someone else contacted me on Facebook with the same suggestion. Thanks for that, love all the help I get in the comments 😄

[@rebeccalucysmith9689]

Mamlambo I’ve haven’t found a vertebrae yet, but I’ve seen many other people find them; mainly online, sometimes it’s just a ring in a rock. I must get round to sending you photos of my best finds.

[@treasureisland3778]

*@ **8:40** Hello my friend, that sure is a Beautiful Butte Island out there. t/c*

[@MamlamboFossils]

It really is! It's got a colony of Blue Penguins on it as well as seals.

[@treasureisland3778]

@@MamlamboFossils *Awesome..as soon as this terrible virus goes away (hopefully) I will eventually make it an effort & scratch it off my bucket list to visit this remarkable peaceful land. Stay safe my friend.* ✌️

[@NewZealandRocksDownunder]

Hard case you got featured over in the States. Could you do a feature of the different prepped fossils that you have. I'd definitely like to see that.

[@MamlamboFossils]

I'll do that 😄

[@gaylereid8264]

At 5:31, i would have to call that a pig in a blanket! 🤣😂

[@SinguLarityNow]

I have found Cretaceous marine reptile bones here in Texas that look very similar to your mystery bone. I think that is a partially digested vertebra.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Roger! I'll do some googling and see what I can come up with. Appreciate the help. Keep safe!

[@patrickmiddour7817]

what were the mysterious ones that ended up having tentacles in them I have one that's completely crystallized I'm trying to figure out what it is it's got a gnarly mouth and some crazy tentacles

[@robertmartyr2041]

that's a lot of crabs and some nice bits of fish, whale and poss penguin too :0) some nice piece's in the slides the shark teeth are very nice, the verts and the ammonites too :0) nice little prep vid and can't wait for the next one :0) thanks for sharing and will have a look at the prep vid you was featured in Mamlambo :0) thanks again mate and for keeping us entertained, we hope you are yours are all good and we are good too :0)

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Robert! All good this side, NZ has been spared the worst of it. Hope you and your family are doing well that side. Yeah, there was a bit of everything in that hunt - I'm not sure it's a penguin, but one of those does look like a fish. Will need to figure out this acid prepping thing soon. Stay safe!

[@robertmartyr2041]

thank you mate as we are doing good, trying to keep fit and occupied which is easier said than done :0) very glad you and NZ are good too, we haven't peaked yet I think it's next week then will flatten out but will be months before any of us get back to normal but we have to hang in there :0) even if it's not a penguin it still looks very nice, the fish could be amazing but the acid prep sound like you'll need a lot of PPE to go with it :0) stay safe and take good care mate and looking forward to the next one :0)

[@michaelrobertson8795]

Awesome brother👍👍✌

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks bro 😄 Keep safe over there.

[@lorrainepangowish2072]

Cool finds.

[@Drone107]

The crab master! 🦀

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hahahaha, wait till you see this 50lb one - unless I mess it up at which point I will never mention it again 😄

[@thiagodesouza8424]

Nice 🦀 s my friend... And the Americans video... U smashed... Congratulations Mamlambo

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Thiago 😄 Can't wait till we can go out for a hunt again!

[@thiagodesouza8424]

@@MamlamboFossils I'm over Mamlambo... I feel like a prison... I don't know for how long I can handle.... I need fresh air...

[@MamlamboFossils]

@@thiagodesouza8424 we are almost the bro!

[@seanparchim9165]

Thanks for the video kind Sir

[@MamlamboFossils]

My pleasure! Hope you enjoyed it 😁

[@seanparchim9165]

@@MamlamboFossils I did indeed✌️

[@darinmbicknell]

Prelockdown penguins.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Much better title! I'm going to have to get me some post-lockdown ones 😄

[@willbejamming1532]

Apropos of nothing in particular, must one have a very old soul to have as a spirit animal a fossilized penguin?

[@MamlamboFossils]

That will take some pondering about, kinda like if Harry Potter had a dinosaur as a familiar.

[@Whateverhasbeenmynameforyears]

You should put the slide show email in the description. :)

[@darkomilojkovic594]

Super cool! :D

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks! 😄

[@jefftrag1956]

You ever visit that big rectangular Island off shore? You ever thought of paying some young buck to shuttle backpacks full of rock back to your car? Do you make multiple trips back to car now?

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hi Jeff, that island is a nature reserve so you can't land a boat there at all. It's part of my exercise to carry the heavy backpack around - keeps me nice and fit 😄 I did do one trip back to the car just because I was moving to a different spot. Usually I don't.

[@jefftrag1956]

@@MamlamboFossils The idea of the young buck lugging rocks is to get more rocks that you have to leave behind out. You could still carry rocks too. I just hate seeing all those great fossils weathering away on the beach. When you are too old to lug rocks you will have a couple tons of rocks to keep you busy preping.

[@liamredmill9293]

Nice one

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Liam!

[@johndaut7128]

Would you trade a crab for a Green River fossil fish?

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hi John, unfortunately I cannot export crabs from New Zealand as they are controlled by law. Sorry about that!

[@johndaut7128]

@@MamlamboFossils would you like me to send you some Texas Cretaceous fossils?

[@bethholness5153]

1.34. Looks like a apricot pit.

[@MamlamboFossils]

It does! 😊 Thanks Beth

[@Rashuric]

I wish I could find stuff like this in Florida....

[@MamlamboFossils]

You have so many cool fossil sites in Florida! Meg tooth central 😄

[@mollyhollypollydolly8760]

Love the prep work you show us!!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Glad you enjoyed it M - I'll try and include it in future videos again if possible.

[@delfinbelisonjr8366]

watching from the Philippines :)

[@rolojones3212]

A Star is born. LOL

[@MamlamboFossils]

😊 I can now say... "As seen on TV"!

[@dinodan7770]

How many crabs have you found in your lifetime?

[@MamlamboFossils]

Not enough!! I honestly don't know though

[@alangrant7973]

would you be interested in selling in NZ?

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hi Alan, I don't sell any fossils. Thanks for getting in touch though!

[@Yuditbaz]

Wow.Ty.i share.

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Yudit!

[@TreasureHuntingNana]

I like watching your videos, BUT, I want to see the clean ups more. Even if it is pictures of the end results... especially ones when you are not sure what is in them...

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks, thats good feedback 😀 ill give that a go!

[@graemehill9473]

Hi mate, I am a Kiwi now living in Australia. First let me say I watch all your videos. I am an avid fossil collector. We used to live north of Auckland and spent many weekends down on the coast Port Waikato to south of Kaphia. Got some great shark teeth, ammonites, nortiloids and great gastropods. We also spent a lot of time on the Taranaki coast. All sorts of great fossils. I will see if I can locate some of our pics and flick some to you. We have had some fun over here but not as much as I would like. We have some trilobite from Mt Isa very old ammonites from Richmond also sharks teeth from there. Many areas to hunt here but such massive distances to travel, makes it hard to do. Anyway that's enough of my rambling. Flick me your address and I will send you a piece of trilobite. Unfortunately we don't have any fully complete. Regards Graeme

[@Bearywhite2]

I want merch that says yeah.. its a crab

[@MamlamboFossils]

That's a great idea 😄 I need an idea for a t-shirt.

[@barkingmouse8152]

crab eating a penguin?

[@randomconsumer4494]

This man has calves of steel from carrying a bag of rocks. ,

[@MamlamboFossils]

😄😄😄

[@Belenor]

Get those crabs to a vet, they might still be saved!

[@MamlamboFossils]

Hahahaha, if one of these crabs move one day you will hear me screaming across the ocean 😄

[@ralsharp6013]

Thank you I love what you are finding. Crab expert ... Mate you're leaving a lot of hearts and lungs behind.. You could look up mudfossil University, how to identify hearts and lungs X

[@MamlamboFossils]

Thanks Ral, it looks interesting! I'll have a look into it. Keep well.

[@ralsharp6013]

Thank you brother. Staying very safe here in Australia. Hope everything good over there as well. The ancestors would find hearts and lungs and look like triangular-shaped. They would make axes out of them. Often up the top looks beveled, where the aorta or arteries were once attached..