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December 3, 2008

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Shark Teeth

New to shark to...

New to shark tooth hunting

12/31/2005 3:30:40 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

New to shark tooth hunting

Hi,
I live in Summerville, SC. The other day my two young daughters and I came across a shark tooth while on a walk. Needless to say, we were pretty excited. Can someone give us the "scoop" on collecting shark teeth? How do you find them? Do you wade into the streams? Do you dig in the mud? Are they found on the banks? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks, Ed

1/9/2006 11:12:49 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

Okay, Ed, since no one else has responded, I guess I will; although, I'm fairly new to shark tooth hunting myself. From what I've been able to ascertain and as you probably already know, Summerville lies on top what was several million years ago prime beach front property. Today, a fossil-laden layer of sand lies about 6-8 feet underground pretty much the entire town. Some areas have more fossils than others. Your job is to find areas around town where "the layer" has been disturbed, e.g., where a ditch has been dug. This website, for example, lists Eagle and Dorchester Creeks, i.e., ditches, as areas where the layer has been disturbed and teeth can be found. All you have to do is wade around the creeks and sift through the sand or dig in the banks. My daughter and I did this for the first time over the summer and came home with a nice handful of 50-100 teeth. Sure, they were small, but exciting to find nonetheless. After finding these, though, you will want to find the big daddy megs that Ditchweezil & Co. find with regularity. For these, you will have to find your own special site, which more than likely has already been scoured by more gung-ho collectors/sellers than you and me. The good thing is that there are so many teeth in the area of The Ville that with luck you can find some nice teeth even AFTER a site has been ravaged by others. In any event, stick around here. Ditchweezil is a wealth of information, and I'm sure he'd be happy to post your finds. Good luck.

4/19/2006 3:34:22 PM

da f0ssZ

31 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

Hey Ed:

To answer your questions...yes, yes and yes. JC pretty much summed up the fact that the Summerville area is underlain by fossil formations (Ashley marl-Eocene, Chandler Bridge-Oligocene, Hawthorne-Miocene). The depth and location of the formations is variable around the region due to geologic activity. Each layer is generally comprised of a different constituent. In many places, these formations are stacked up on top of one another so when the creek (or rivers) washes out fossils, all are mixed together.

So the key is to find places where the layer(s) are exposed or accessible. Natural streams and man-made ditches cut thru these layers. Sometimes the depth of the creek is suffucient that fossils are hanging out the banks. They also wash into the creek. Take minute to browse our website and you will see ground photos of teeth. The Chandler Bridge formation can be quite muddy and extracting the fossils is hard work.

I learned how to hunt from hunting, and supplementing my collecting with reading up on the geology. I spent many days looking for sites and then as I collected more and more (some days coming home with no fossils), I was able to acertain the best locations. To this day, it is still hit or miss.

Enjoy!!!

- DF

6/12/2006 12:08:23 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

ed also if your not into digging and you want to take your daughter out to safe place where you can surface collect.find your local bridges where there are high risers and low beach fronts.this is how i basically started.no mess is necessary when you got the kids.take a sandwich bag and a few sodas and don't forget your eyes.hint north charleston,there is a group of bridges there.one of them is a goldmine.there you will find meg ,angy, and all the big teeth that come with the cool lil ones.ill let you do the hunt for the right bridge.goodluck

8/7/2006 4:56:41 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

I am very interested in learning more about digging. I've submitted two contact requests to Ditchweezle but have gotten no response. Maybe he's still out of town. I have always collected teeth on the beach. Until I stumbled across your site a couple of weeks ago, I thought this was the only place to find them. I'm a shark fanatic! I've been practically obsessed with your stories and pictures since the first day I started reading this stuff. WOW! Will somebody please let me know more about digging for teeth? I live at Pawleys. Are there any places I should check out in this area? Oh yeah, besides the fact that my family calls me "Shark Lady", I use to work for a dentist for 6 0r 7 years so this stuff has REALLY gotten my attention in a big way!

9/5/2006 7:34:48 PM

da f0ssZ

31 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

Margie:

I have beach collected at Pawley's and the Grand Strand area. Basically, digging at the beach is fruitless because the ocean is depositing the fossils from offshore beds. The only digging I have done in the Pee Dee area is around Pamlico (Pee Dee River) for Cretaceous fossils including mackerel shark, mosasaur, croc, bellemnoids, etc. The Oligocene/Miocene/Pliocene shark teeth (extinct giant white) are essentially absent there. This is a function of geology.

To find Megs, angys, etc; a road trip to the LowCountry may be in order.

Hope this helps some.

DF

9/7/2006 6:33:06 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

Hey, thanks for the response! I've GOT to tell you how bad I have the "ditch fever". I've been picking up teeth on the beach since I was a child, only finding small, but nice, teeth. After seeing what you guys are finding in creeks, rivers and ditches, I have been obsessed with this website! There are MANY places around here where digging is going on on a daily basis. I've just about wrecked a few times looking at the ditches and new ponds while I'm driving. I'm just not sure what I should be looking for as far as the "layer". I've studied the photos, read the forum posts...clay, gray dirt, black dirt, green stuff, rocky soil...I'm SO confused. So I had to go to Aiken yesterday for Federal COurt jury duty, and I'm riding thru Summerville about 5:30 am. All I can think about is TEETH! On the way back late yesterday afternoon, I called my son to let him know I was on the way back home, but told him I was close to Summerville and reminded him that I was approaching some SERIOUS shark teeth country. He replied by saying that if I didn't show up by midnight, that he'd start searching for me in the Summerville area ditches! Coincidentally, while at jury duty, the lady sitting next to me was from Summerville. I KNEW she could hook me up and put me in the right direction of the area of Dorchester Creek near the Bojangles (DW's directions on hunting). I told her the directions were go thru the parking lot at Bojangles over towards Bi-Lo, then park at the edge of the woods. She knew where Bojangles was but wasn't sure about a nearby creek. Well, when I got to Summerville, I found Bojangles. I went inside, changed into some shorts and an old shirt, then went back out in the parking lot to try and figure out which direction I needed to go. No Bi-Lo in sight. Man, I got into some BIG traffic trying to find some kind of landmark. I finally gave up, and saw a Bi-Los on my way out of town. But no Bojangles or KFC or any other kind of chicken place nearby. I was SO stoked, too! I DID see Taco Bell and figured I had to be close. I mainly wanted to see the layers up close at the creek, then I would know what to look for. Indeed, it was a long, sad ride back home. I"m not giving up, though.

9/7/2006 7:07:43 PM

da f0ssZ

31 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

Margie:

See the thread titled "Questions".

DF

9/8/2006 3:05:14 AM

ditchweezil

342 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

You were so close! You were on Bacon's Bridge if you saw Bilo and Taco Bell at the same time. Trolley is across the parking lot (on the Applebees side). If you turn right there at Applebees onto Trolley, you will go all the way to where it ends at Dorchester. On the right, there is another Bilo with the KFC in its parking lot. The creek is there.

9/8/2006 4:46:12 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: New to shark tooth hunting

Man! I KNEW I was close! I could smell it. I read your directions again yesterday, not the ones you just posted but the ones on the Eagle Creek and the other spot on the "Go Fossil Hunting" section, and I think I was looking for these landmarks in the wrong town! Are these Summerville landmarks or Dorchester? I was coming into Summerville on Hwy. 78 from Aiken. I think I remembered passing a sign for Dorchester State Park, but I don't remember actually going thru the town of Dorchester. When you said I was on Bacon Bridge if I could see Taco Bell and Bi-Lo's, I don't think you were talking about Summerville. I wasn't on a bridge, and I passed Taco Bell on Alt. 17 then passed Bi-Lo a little further north. I had the most vivid dream last week of finding hundreds of teeth in a hole behind a doctor's office in Summerville. Weird! I'm tellin' you, I got the fever in a BAD way! Thanks for the extra info. Maybe I'll have my bearings a little more the next time I get over that way. Happy fosslin'!

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