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Shark Tooth Hunting 101 By P.J. Goetz
I love to go shark tooth hunting with my kids. They love to pretend to be paleontologists and get excited at holding
a part of a animal that lived as long as 30 million years ago. It's great fun to watch my kids hunt up and down the
beach for shark's teeth. We find it almost irresistible to be on any beach in Florida without checking the shoreline
for teeth. We are lucky because the supply seems to be endless due the amount of teeth a shark loses in its lifetime
and the fact that sharks have been swimming around Florida for millions of years.
Sharks teeth may be black, brown, or gray, depending on the minerals in the soil in which they have been buried. They
range in size from one-eighth inch to three inches, and on rare occasions more. My favorite places to find sharks teeth
in Florida include; Amelia Island (near Jacksonville), the Peace River and any beach from Sarasota to Fort Myers. Once
you get started hunting for sharks teeth you'll get hooked and spend many hours walking down the beach in search of
"the big one".
Every collector has their own way of finding sharks teeth. Some of my best tips are: To find the best selection of
teeth on the beach start your hunt as the high tide recedes and the lowering tide uncovers teeth that were washed
ashore. Check areas that the tide has piled up shells, which can hold sharks teeth and fossilized bone. If you get
really hooked start your hunt just as the rains of a heavy storm are ending. The waves of the storm will bring great
treasures to shore. The personnel of the Division of Vertebrate Paleontology of the Florida Museum of Natural History
will identify up to ten of your sharks teeth for free. After a good day of hunting have each of your kids pick the
tooth that they like the best. Take a digital photo of the tooth next to a ruler (for scale) and email the image as a
jpeg to rhulbert@flmnh.ufl.edu. In your email include where you found the specimen to help them identify it. First
time collectors should stop by the Chamber of Commerce in Venice for a little package of fossilized sharks teeth
(free for children). Venice Municipal Beach is an excellent place to find sharks teeth and other fossilized material.
Just south of Venice stop by Sharky's for lunch or for shark tooth hunting equipment and resources. The age group best
suited for shark tooth hunting is early school age thru teenagers; preschoolers get bored quickly and as any good shark
tooth hunter knows the name of the game patience.
Finding Shark Teeth
This is a pristine beach, with an interesting claim to fame. This beach is known for its abundance of sharks tooth.
People come from miles away to search for the elusive teeth on this lovely, natural beach. Chances are, you'll find
one too, if you look in the right place.
Caspersen Beach Photos
- This beach is located a few miles south of Venice, on the west coast of Florida.
It is a quiet beach, with soft sand, beautiful water, and an enormous park where guests can hike, bike, or just
relax and enjoy.
- The surf is up at Caspersen Beach, and these boys have fun catching a wave.
- It is a great way to spend the day - taking a refreshing walk on the beach, especially
on days like this when the weather is just gorgeous.
- These boys are not searching for sharks tooth. They are busy looking at the friendly
birds who call this beautiful beach their home.
- This is what it's all about here - finding sharks tooth, and interesting shells too.
- Well, these people have a different idea. They are perfectly happy to catch some rays,
and read a good book. They will leave the sharks tooth hunting to someone else.
- The whole family participates in the hobby of searching for sharks tooth. This beach
is situated in a place that makes it a natural magnet for the teeth. They wash ashore here, and are relatively easy
to find.
- Some things are more important than sharks tooth hunting, such as - sand castle building.
In this instance, Dad helps the kids build the perfect sand castle.
- The search is on for the obscure sharks tooth. It's as much fun to look as it is to find them.
- This man is a serious sharks tooth hunter. It's a unique hobby, and really quite relaxing.
Any list of the world’s most unique beaches would have to include the five beaches of Venice, Florida (Venice Beach,
Nokomis Beach, North Jetty Beach, Brohard Beach, and Caspersen Beach) because they are the best places on the planet
to dig for petrified shark’s teeth. These ten million year old fossilized shark teeth range in size from one-eighth
inch long to three inches long and represent at least ten different species, several of which are extinct.
For eons, sharks have died in the Gulf of Mexico. Their carcasses sink to the ocean floor and are covered by layers of
sand and silt, where they decompose, leaving only their teeth and jaws. Sharks have seven rows of teeth; each row
consists of 40 or more teeth. The front row is used to feed until they wear out, at which time they are shed and a new
row of teeth moves up and into place. Since a single Tiger shark can produce as many as 24,000 teeth in ten years, that
means literally billions of teeth have been deposited in the Gulf.
Thousands of years ago, sea levels were much higher and most of south Florida was underwater. Unlike other areas of
the state, in the Venice area the wave action was much calmer, which allowed the teeth to remain in place rather than
being swept far out to sea. Since the waters have long ago receded and the coastline in this area is now being eroded,
sharks teeth are exposed by every major storm, earning the town the right to bill themselves as the “Shark Tooth Capitol
of the World.“
Take a walk on any of Venice’s beaches and you will no doubt see people digging in the sand with long-handled steel
sieves, hoping with each basketful to discover a prize fossil. Of the five beaches in the area, Caspersen is held by
most to be the very best location to hunt for shark teeth. Venice Beach is such a popular shark tooth hunting spot that
the town uses a picture of a fossilized shark tooth to form the “V“ in Venice and holds a Shark’s Tooth Festival each
April. Venice is located on Florida’s Gulf coast, midway between Sarasota and Naples.
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