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I'm planning a trip to Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina to look for Meg teeth probably this August.
I'm interested to do some offshore dives and river divers with experiencd local divers with the same interests.
Current options include Meherrin River, offshore from North Carolina, South Carolina rivers, Peace river Florida, Venice Beach shore dives and offshore dives.
I would especially like to do a solid week of North Carolina Offshore dives, but I'm not sure if anyone offers this??
Does anyone want to join in or help with the adventure?
Welcome Rich,
Try posting your question here, Venice Fossil Divers - ScubaBoard, as well.
There are several charters in Venice that specialize in Meg Hunting. Plus a bunch of great local folks that will dive with you and are happy to show you around.
For the Carolina's, I would send a PM to Lee Taylor, he has a club and can point you where you want to go.
The gators usually sleep during the day. They do like laying in the sun. They are not near as aggressive as one might think. The gators are hard to get close to because they are scared of things larger than they are. They are especially scared of boats. They hunt in the evenings when the sun is starting to go down. They get active at dusk and in the early morning. They like to sleep mid day. They are ambush predators. They can bite underwater but must go to the surface to swallow. They usually do not stray far from their territory. Their territories seem to be about 1/4 acre in size. They like the edge of the river where there is tall grass. They dont usually hang out in the middle/bottom of the river. I did see a gator approach a diver on the surface. We told the diver to hurry to the boat but did not tell him of the gator. The boat captain had his hand on a 44 magnum pistol. He said it would likely glance off the gators leathery back if he had to shoot it. The gator turned around when the diver left the gators territory. The pistol was unnecessary.
Tips: Dive the center bottom and stay away from the edge. Dive in the middle of the day or late morning. Dive from a boat. Makes lots of noise. Do not hang around on the surface. Do not hang around next to the boat. Dive with a group. Go down the anchor line. Crab upstream and work towards the center of the river. Bail out when there is NO sound of a boat. Drift back to the dive boat.
Having dove the Cooper River for 15 years, I feel I should share some of my perspectives that they may be of help to others.
If you visit my social group named the "Charleston SC Scuba Club", you will find quite a bit of information (and video) on diving the Cooper River and areas around Charleston SC. The link is below. If you need advice on hotels, I can advise you in that area. I have quite a few of the river dive boat operations listed with links to the websites.
Diving for teeth is addictive. I can't explain it. It just is. I found many years ago that diving for teeth and treasures is NOT about diving. It becomes about the people and the obsessions for finding stuff.
Diving black water is creepy at first. What you find is that once you get to the bottom and lay on the bottom with your powerful flashlight, you start to calm down. Laying on the bottom has a significant calming effect. This works in the ocean also.
A 3mm suit if fine for the summer months. A 5mm suit works for the late fall and very early spring. The guys from the northern states bring drysuits.
During the colder months a hood, gloves, and warm water poured into the suit helps quite a bit.
Some people weight themselves a little heavier than usual. If the current is slow, this is unnecessary. Sometimes it helps to carry something (like a large screwdriver) to stick into the bottom to hold you in one place. Again, this depends on the current.
Lighting is a big deal when diving black water. Take many lights. The more powerful the better. Take backups and backup batteries.
Any basic BC and regulator are fine. Nothing special needed.
Stay in the gravel beds. Work the gravel beds. Look for gray, pasty, clay. Look for large fragments of bone and tooth. Stay in front of the boat so you can float back to it upon surfacing.
The teeth in the photo are teeth I found in the Cooper River. I found the one on the right this past summer. The one on the left I found a few years back. It is what they call a rare copper colored Angustiden. It has quality and value to a collector of around $450
Here are some of my Cooper River finds. (Charleston SC)
I dove with Megalodon Charters out of Venice, FL last weekend and had a great time. Found a nice megalodon tooth (3 inch) and my wife found a partial mammoth tooth. We found other partial megs, mako, snaggle tooth and other shark teeth. If you are gonna be there a while, you may want to do a beach dive you can find stuff there too (I found a partial horse tooth about 100 yards off of Venice public beach), but I would certainly make sure to do a charter there, as I had a lot better luck on the boat.
Capt Jamie on the Aristakat in Venice, FL will put you on some teeth.
Also contact Fossilebabe (PM here on Scubaboard), one of the local FL mega-xperts for more info.
Scubaboard had a big Venice Beach Bash & Fossil hunt in June with trips aboard the Big Top and the Aristakat. What a great time everyone had. Hope you have a blast.
Let me know when you are coming. Some of us local FL SBer's will be happy to join you on your dive adventures.
I was pretty successful both times I was stationed in Beaufort SC, with nice size meg teeth from battery creek and beaufort river and nice assorted fossils and antiques from the may river in Bluffton SC.
Those rivers you need to be able to read the local tide charts, and plan your dive accordanally, and find a good local diver to show you around. Dive times will be determined by the tidal movement, the less rise or fall of tide means more or less bottom time when the tide currents start.
You will need to be comfortable in extreme low viz situations diving the SC rivers. Range will be 0 to 4 ft viz on a good day.
Thanks for all your feedback. My trip is now happening this August and I invite anyone who would like to join in to get in touch with me or make their own booking. We're taking only 7 inchers and leaving the rest behind : ) This trip will be awesome and here's some info about it:
Rich I suggest Sea Island Divers in Beaufort SC. Contact Jason Owen at (834) 575-3562. I have some friends who have been going there for the last couple of years and have done quite well with large teeth. Check out there FB page.
I suppose one can always dream. If I did this I would have no teeth in my fossil collection. Not to mention I am really attracted to 3" Blue Mako's, Benidini's, 4" Black Angys, and 1.5" Golden Hemi's
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