Must Do Sarasota Visitor Guide Winter/Spring 2019

Hunting for
Sharks’ Teeth
on Venice’s Beaches
By: Gillian Birch
DEBI PITTMAN WILKEY
A strange natural phenomenon has led to Venice becoming known as “The
Shark’s Tooth Capital of the World.” These smooth T-shaped prehistoric teeth
are usually dark grey in color and may be anything from one inch to five inches
in length. They are so numerous in this area you can cheat and buy them at
local souvenir stores for a couple of dollars, but it’s much more rewarding to
have the thrill of finding your very own shark’s tooth.
Why is Venice so Special for Finding Sharks’ Teeth?
These warm Gulf waters were once filled with numerous giant sharks such as the extinct Carcharodon Megalodons. Area
waters are still home to a few species of smaller sharks, but it’s very unlikely to see one within sight of land.
Millions of years ago, the sharks lived, bred, and then died in these exceptionally calm waters and their carcasses lay on the
seabed. Although most of the shark’s remains would rot, disintegrate, or become fish food, the hardened T-shaped teeth
became fossilized over time.
The tides carry, bury, and later uncover these hard objects, especially during winter storms. Eventually the teeth are thrown
up on the beach around Venice, due to the converging currents that deposit sediment along the shallow drop-offs along the
coastline.
Best Beaches in Venice for Finding Sharks’ Teeth
With 14 miles of sandy beaches in Venice, there are a lot of opportunities for finding sharks’ teeth washed up along the edge
of the water. Here’s a rundown to some of the best beaches in Venice where you stand a good chance of going home with your
own prehistoric collection of sharks’ teeth – if you know how and where to search for them.
Venice Beach is one of the busiest beaches in the area and for that reason is possibly not the best beach for competing with
other sharks’ teeth fossil hunters. However, after a storm you may be lucky and find a tooth thrown up from the depths after 15
million years or so.
The quieter Service Club Park Beach further south may be a better place to start your search. It is located behind the
municipal airport and has free parking, restrooms, showers, and a boardwalk to the beach.
The best beach for finding sharks’ teeth is Caspersen Beach, at the extreme south end of Venice’s beaches. This beach is also
good for scuba diving, which greatly enhances your chances of finding a larger Megladon tooth which can be more rare and
valuable. When the surf is calm proficient swimmers can snorkel out from the beach, and dive down to scour the sandy bottom
by hand-fanning the sand or look in crevices in the rocks or pockets of sand deposited there.
How to Search for Sharks’ Teeth
You will always find ardent searchers sifting the water on Caspersen Beach with their sand scoops and nets, looking for the
next treasure. You may want to use a sand sieve to sift through the tiny broken seashells that hide those elusive sharks’ teeth.
Use a small spade to shovel sand into your net or sieve. Let the water rinse away all but the larger particles, then examine them
for dark tooth-shaped forms. Sooner or later you will be rewarded with your very own prehistoric shark’s tooth to take home
and show off to family and friends.
MustDo.com | 13