Sharks teeth and serendipity go together. Pick a Florida beach, any beach and show up at low tide.
You are in the right place at the right time.
Walk barefooted where the surf meets the sand.
Adopt the shark’s teeth shuffle. Bend 90 degrees at the waist, shuffle your feet in the sand and stare intently at the debris washed up by the tide.
Look for shiny black, dark brown or dark grey triangular shapes. Many small rocks will grab your attention – right colors, wrong shape.
Seriously addicted shark’s teeth seekers show up with small screens attached to long handles. They sift the sand, looking for the elusive big ones.
Of course it helps to show up at a beach known for prehistoric shark’s teeth. That would be Caspersen Beach in Venice, Florida, famous for shelling and sharks teeth.
The city’s powers that be are so sure of their reputation that the Caspersen Beach sign has a humongous sharks tooth design next to the beach name.
Caspersen Beach Park is at 4100 Harbor Drive, Venice. Parking is free. Hours are 6 a.m. to midnight. The park fronts onto the Gulf of Mexico.
Amenities: beach access, canoe launch, birding, restrooms, grills, swimming, unpaved trails, wildlife viewing.
Caspersen Beach is not alone in being famous. In fact, all of Venice with its miles of beaches carries the weight of a big title: “Shark’s tooth capital of the world”.
While hope springs eternal for finding the big tooth just like the sign, on my visit this week I shuffled along the shore line and picked up just two very small shark’s teeth – both shiny black. To me they are beautiful to behold (and also very easy to lose, being so small).
Sharks are continuously shedding their teeth. The ones that fall out are replaced by new teeth. Over their lifetime some sharks shed upwards of 35,000 teeth into oceans and rivers.
A shark’s lower teeth are pointed and the upper teeth are triangular. Yes, I read that definition. I have no desire to experience these teeth first hand.
In order for a tooth to fossilize it has to sink to the ocean floor rather quickly and get covered with sediment.
In real life the tooth was whitish. Once shed, and covered by sediment, the tooth oxidizes turning different colors depending on the nearby minerals. In Venice, Florida, for example, there is a lot of phosphate so over a very long time, say 10,000 years, the teeth turn black.
Ready have fun searching for shark’s teeth? In addition to Venice Island some of the best places to find shark’s teeth in Florida are Casey Key, Manasota Key – Englewood Beach, Boca Raton, Palm Beach Island Beaches, Singer Island, Jupiter Island, St. Augustine Beach, Ponte Vedra and the Jacksonville beaches.
I found more than shark’s teeth that day at Caspersen. Low tide was 8 a.m. The sun was up but not yet high enough to be squint your eyes bright. The blush of morning yellow light softened the scenery of sand and small lapping waves.
Wading birds stuck their beaks into the sand looking for food.
Just being outdoors, at the beach, sifting sand between my toes, well that was a great find in itself.
Like most people who live inland I found myself saying: “I need to come to the beach more often.”
So true, especially in these pandemic times. We should step up and give ourselves permission to have fun.
Go hunt for shark’s teeth.
Oh, and bring a bucket. There will also be shells you can’t resist.
BOOK REVIEW
Like armchair adventures? Look no further than a new coffee table book titled Discovering the Florida Trail: A photographic Journey along the Florida Scenic Trail by Sandra Friend and John Keatley, Watula Press, 2020.
The authors take you from south to north on this 1,4000 mile trail starting with Big Cypress. Each section has a short introduction then a buffet of photographs. Beautiful, beckoning, beguiling photographs that tell stories with no words needed.
We all know Florida is diverse. But who knew its natural beauty bordered on the divine? Open this book. Turn the pages. Drink in the photographs. Longleaf pine forests. Rivers. Swamps. Footpaths. Sloughs. Foggy mornings. Blue skies. Standing ibis. An orange blaze on a tree.
Take a journey without leaving your living room. Buy this book for yourself. Give as gifts. Sit back and enjoy.
Review by Lucy Tobias, travel journalist.