Beaches-Shark teeth

[ltl engine]

OK so I again have been enlightened by fabulous DISers again ...Who knew you could look for shells & SHARK TEETH at the beach We had decided to go to a Gulf beach near Clearwater for a day trip, then I saw a thread where someone mentioned looking for shark teeth on the beach. We have never been to East Coast beaches before so...are the shark teeth really hard to find (i.e. are the boys going to be looking FOREVER and not find one or fighting because only 1 precious tooth was found??) Is this a certain time of year? Any info or suggestions for beaches would be great.... TIA

 

[DOOM1001]

It might be easier to to walk a couple hundred feet to one of those beach gift shops and look for one in there.

 

[LilGMom]

Ummmm, having grown up around the beach and going to the beach my entire life I had no idea and have never ever found a shark's tooth. I'm thinking it would be like finding the needle in the haystack and like the PP said, it would be much easier going to a souvenir shop.

 

[haPevraftr]

My husband has an old peanut can full of little shark teeth that he found as a kid on Venice Beach in Florida. We haven't been there as adults to know if you can still find them as easily now. According to our local science museum, they are fossils.

 

[bucsfan1029]

In my experience, you have to go to the beaches south of St. Pete to really start finding sharks teeth. We go down to Boca Grande alot and always find them, but never see any at the St. Pete / Clearwater beaches.

 

[Weegl]

Hunting (and finding) sharks teeth is a very popular pastime here in N. Florida. We reside in an area where they are quite plentiful. They are not as plentiful south of Daytona or on the gulf coast.

 

[earthfaries]

OK so I again have been enlightened by fabulous DISers again ...Who knew you could look for shells & SHARK TEETH at the beach We had decided to go to a Gulf beach near Clearwater for a day trip, then I saw a thread where someone mentioned looking for shark teeth on the beach. We have never been to East Coast beaches before so...are the shark teeth really hard to find (i.e. are the boys going to be looking FOREVER and not find one or fighting because only 1 precious tooth was found??) Is this a certain time of year? Any info or suggestions for beaches would be great.... TIA

I think you saw my post the other day ...

Hunting for shark teeth is easy and fun! We went last Wed. and Thursday, and are actually going again tomorrow!

The beach on the Gulf that shark teeth are found easily, very easily is Venice Beach, just below Sarasota. About a two hour drive from WDW.

You can google it. Venice Beach ~ Shark Capital of the World!

We bought a shark tooth scoop thing from a gift shop in Venice and a sifter (just ask someone in a gift shop there). The sifter was 18.00 and the scoop was 23.00.

All you do is walk into the water, not even a foot deep, then scoop up the shell stuff. Look for the shell pieces that have a lot of black in them.

Then you can dump it on the sifter, the ground, or in your hands and you'll see shark teeth! We hardly EVER find none in a batch! Usually, in a batch (a couple of handfulls) of shell stuff, we'll find anywhere from 2-6 shark teeth!

It's SO fun and easy, and the kids just love it!

You can see the man there on the beach, he is looking for shark teeth. He has a large floating sifter he made himself. There is also another person with the shark tooth scoop, long metal handle and mesh basket at the end to scoop up the shell pieces and shark teeth. Most people there are there looking for shark teeth, and they have bags full of them!

Believe me, you can go into a gift shop and buy a bag of shark teeth for 1.25, but it will NEVER compare to finding them yourselves on a beautiful beach!

If you want, I'll take pictures of the "tools" we picked up at the gift shop there, and the teeth and rocks tomorrow, along with our finds, and post it here!

PM me if you have any further questions

Have fun!

​

 

[earthfaries]

Okay, back from Shark Tooth hunting at the beach and I've posted a mini trip report complete with pics

HERE

just click the link above to read/view

​

 

[LilGMom]

I guess on one hand I should be glad that we don't get enough sharks around my beaches to dump a lot of teeth on the beach. But on the other hand it would be neat to find some and my kids would love it.

 

[earthfaries]

I guess on one hand I should be glad that we don't get enough sharks around my beaches to dump a lot of teeth on the beach. But on the other hand it would be neat to find some and my kids would love it.

I don't really think there are more sharks there, it's just that the beaches are being eroded there, and ancient rivers emptied into the waters in that area, causing a pile up of fossils and shark teeth. You can snorkel about a mile off the shores of Venice beach in the "bone yard" and possibly find all types of ancient fossils of all types of sea and land animals

The storms loosen them and wash them ashore

​

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Well, don't know how easy it is to find them, because we never really looked for them. BUT, on our way back home from our last big Disney trip, we stopped at Myrtle Beach for a few days. My middle son was complaining of something hurting him in his bathing suit. I assumed it was sand irritating him (he's very sensitive).

When we took off his suit back in the condo, he had a shark's tooth in the mesh part of his trunks! We now kid him about when he got bitten in the behind by a shark!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Okay, back from Shark Tooth hunting at the beach and I've posted a mini trip report complete with pics

HERE

just click the link above to read/view

​

Wow! You have quite a collection! Looks like it was a lot of fun!

 

[ltl engine]

Thanks again, the pics were great. This will definitely make the trip plan...

 

[ltl engine]

Thanks for all the info on Venice Beach...I think we are definitely going...do the kids need water socks or can they just do bare feet? is there ample parking? Are weekends super crowded? What is the best time of day to arrive? any other info would be great!

 

[Danibelle]

It might be easier to to walk a couple hundred feet to one of those beach gift shops and look for one in there.

That's good advice. I have been to many beaches and have never found a shark's tooth.

 

[Judique]

That's good advice. I have been to many beaches and have never found a shark's tooth.

I have found many shark's teeth on the beaches on Hilton Head Island.

Also, you can find them here in Maryland along the rivers that empty into the Chesapeake Bay such as the Potomac and Patuxent. I've found some on both along the river beaches such as down at Point Lookout State Park.

They are quite common and once you know what you are looking for, it gets easier to see them.

 

[cantwait101]

Okay, back from Shark Tooth hunting at the beach and I've posted a mini trip report complete with pics

HERE

just click the link above to read/view

​

Thanks for Sharing! Those were great pics

 

[NotUrsula]

I guess on one hand I should be glad that we don't get enough sharks around my beaches to dump a lot of teeth on the beach. But on the other hand it would be neat to find some and my kids would love it.

The teeth that you find in the Venice area are mostly fossilized teeth; the sharks that lost them have been dead for a LONG time. However ...

I don't really think there are more sharks there, it's just that the beaches are being eroded there, and ancient rivers emptied into the waters in that area, causing a pile up of fossils and shark teeth. You can snorkel about a mile off the shores of Venice beach in the "bone yard" and possibly find all types of ancient fossils of all types of sea and land animals ​

The storms loosen them and wash them ashore​

You are completely correct about the reasons why those beaches have a lot of fossil teeth, but not so much about there not being a lot of sharks there. The water off parts of Venice is a shark breeding ground, and almost any night of the year you can walk out on the Sharky's pier in Venice and watch experienced anglers reel them in. (I've gotten some odd looks when I'm out there because it's mostly a boy's club, but I love watching. I'm not so wild about angling for them myself, I almost lost a foot to one that my Dad caught when I was 8; it got loose in the boat when I was driving.)

 

[earthfaries]

Thanks for Sharing! Those were great pics

Thanks so much
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The teeth that you find in the Venice area are mostly fossilized teeth; the sharks that lost them have been dead for a LONG time. However ...




You are completely correct about the reasons why those beaches have a lot of fossil teeth, but not so much about there not being a lot of sharks there. The water off parts of Venice is a shark breeding ground, and almost any night of the year you can walk out on the Sharky's pier in Venice and watch experienced anglers reel them in. (I've gotten some odd looks when I'm out there because it's mostly a boy's club, but I love watching. I'm not so wild about angling for them myself, I almost lost a foot to one that my Dad caught when I was 8; it got loose in the boat when I was driving.)

Hey, I was trying to stay in denial, lol.

I don't think I'll tell my daughter that ... she'll never get back in wather

I'll have to check out that board walk, sounds interesting!

​

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Those are great pics. Thanks for sharing. I wish I could wake up each day and go shelling......