Let me tell you about something I think is an interesting and unique kind of treasure hunt: shark tooth hunting. Sounds funny! What do you do? Go to a shark infested part of a beach and look for teeth scattered along the shore like you’d normally find shells? Well, I guess you could find some place like that, but there’s at least one place I know of where you don’t have to be afraid for your life when you wade into the water – well, sort of, but I’ll get to that later.
So, where can you find shark teeth besides at the ocean, you ask? How about a bay? Oh trust me, bays are full of sharks. We love to sit out and watch the not so little dorsal fins break the water in Delaware where we go camping. But most of the shark teeth I’m talking about aren’t from the little fins you see swimming out in the water.
When I was in elementary school, my family took a vacation out to a place called Calvet Cliffs State Park in Maryland, right off the
Chesapeake Bay. The park is open for anyone to enjoy, with miles of hiking trails, great fishing spots, and sandy beaches – everything set up for a nice weekend trip. But the one unique aspect of the park that makes it unlike any you can find in, say, Pennsylvania, is its supply of fossils lying in the shallow water and in the sand, waiting for anyone to stumble upon.
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources website, over 600 species of fossils have been identified at Calvet Cliffs State Park. Most of these fossils are anywhere between ten to twenty million years old, stored there during the Miocene era. Last week I mentioned my treasured coin from 1821. That doesn’t nearly compare to picking something out of the dirt that has never been seen by any other human or just about any type of living being for millions of years!
Walking along the shore is certainly a way to stumble upon fossils, anywhere from Miocene era oyster shells to shark teeth, but if you really want to hunt for this treasure, you’ll want to grab a sieve and shovel and wade out into the shallow murky waters of the bay. There, with a few little scoops, you’re destined to find tons of shark teeth, anywhere from a half inch long to over four inches long!
As I mentioned before, though, you do need to be careful when you’re out hunting, at least at Calvet Cliff State Park. Visitors aren’t allowed to hunt under the cliffs to the side of the beach because of the danger of landslides. Of course, my personal bad experience there wasn’t from falling rocks, but rather jellyfish… SO, just remember you’re sharing the water, just being a guest in the bay creatures’ home! As you may think, our trip to the state park was cut short, but I have plans to go back this summer! If you love the thrill of the hunt and are nearby in Maryland, stop by Calvert Cliff State Park and find yourself some multimillion-year-old shark teeth!
Works Cited:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/southern/calvertcliffs.asp
So cool. This park is on my list of places to take my kids before they don’t want to be seen with me anymore. Time’s running out!!
I had no idea that a bay could be such a hot bed of shark teeth. What a fun way to add a piece of natural history to your collection. I found a fossil of a shell when I was 7 or so and freaked out, and I’m pretty sure my 19 year old self would still freak out upon finding a shark tooth fossil.
This was a very interesting post for me because I’ve loved sharks and learning about them since I was a kid watching shark week for the first time. I will definitely consider going one day with my family if there is a free weekend since it is reasonably close to where I’m from!