Biotech Diver
Contributor
Has anyone done this dive in Venice Florida? Is there a high chance of finding megalodon teeth? I booked a dive for next month and was hoping someone here might have some good information on it.
Shark Tooth Dive FL
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100days-a-year
Contributor
Pretty good chance, they post pictures on FB of them pretty regularly.
I've done it once. I don't recall the charter but I can find it in my log if you'd like to know. The dive was pretty meh. Once was enough. All I recall is attaching a reel to the mooring line and doing circular sweeps digging in rubble. I didn't find any teeth but a few pieces of bone. I found it very underwhelming but I know some people love it. To each their own. Let us know how you liked it!
OP
Biotech Diver
Contributor
I am a data set of 1 so don't put too much into my experience. I went once and did two dives. I didn't find any teeth and I don't recall anyone on the boat finding any teeth. It's also on my side of the state so it was just a 1.5 hour drive up the coast, do my dives, and drive home. So for me it was just the cost of the charter and fuel. But for me personally I don't intend to do it again. Once was enough.
I've done a bunch of tooth dives in Venice. Probably 15 shore dives and 6 or 8 boat dives. I've got a large collection of teeth but never personally found any Megs. Several times someone I've been diving with has found one. They're definitely still out there. Part of it is luck, part of it is being able to spot the corners. My buddy once pulled up a tooth bigger than her hand. Boat captain tried to offer her $100 for it. She ended up using it to help a friend make a mold for some really cool looking shark tooth soap.
I've been on 3 charters out of Venice. I have megs from all three trips. Not huge, 1" to 3" teeth, and they're pretty worn. I also have lots of bone fragments and tons of small teeth plus one whole mammoth tooth. But I did find a few meg teeth.
You need to remember that you're looking for a tooth that is millions of years old. Who knows how long the tooth has been out of the host rock. Most teeth have growth over their surface and they don't look like teeth at all. You might just see barnacles attached to something but when you touch it the something turns out to be a tooth.
I don't know which outfit you're diving with but most of the guys give a really good brief for what to look for. Listen to that brief. Focus on that brief. Think about what was said while you are diving. Check everything you see. The teeth can be really, really hard to see and identify. Your eye is not trained to look for these things and you'll need to train it. The brief helps a lot.
I really enjoy the dives there for the long bottom times and just the relaxation of being underwater. Do be ready for marginal viz, like 3' marginal. It can get worse in silty areas and a lot better at times. I'd guess average is 10 +/- feet. I hope to get back down there soon and do some shore dives in addition to a boat dive or two.
Also, last time we were there I took my non diving wife on one of the river trips that are offered where you canoe on the river and stop at gravel beds to dig and sift for fossils. We had a lot of fun doing that and it gets her into the hunting too.
Enjoy your trip and your dives.
You need to remember that you're looking for a tooth that is millions of years old. Who knows how long the tooth has been out of the host rock. Most teeth have growth over their surface and they don't look like teeth at all. You might just see barnacles attached to something but when you touch it the something turns out to be a tooth.
I don't know which outfit you're diving with but most of the guys give a really good brief for what to look for. Listen to that brief. Focus on that brief. Think about what was said while you are diving. Check everything you see. The teeth can be really, really hard to see and identify. Your eye is not trained to look for these things and you'll need to train it. The brief helps a lot.
I really enjoy the dives there for the long bottom times and just the relaxation of being underwater. Do be ready for marginal viz, like 3' marginal. It can get worse in silty areas and a lot better at times. I'd guess average is 10 +/- feet. I hope to get back down there soon and do some shore dives in addition to a boat dive or two.
Also, last time we were there I took my non diving wife on one of the river trips that are offered where you canoe on the river and stop at gravel beds to dig and sift for fossils. We had a lot of fun doing that and it gets her into the hunting too.
Enjoy your trip and your dives.
My family has done probably 8 trips for 18-ish dives. I don't know that we've counted but between us all I'd say we have a dozen smallish megs (1"-3+"). hundreds or "regular" sharks teeth, a dozen horse teeth, one big mammoth tooth, countless dugong bones. A couple of turtle scoots and one alligator scoot. countless stingray barbs, a few dozen ray mouth plates. My youngest son found a big (to us) whale vertebrae but chose to leave it because it had corrals growing on it.
It is now my wife's favorite diving and she is the only one yet to find a meg. It isn't pretty diving, but it is different and can be fun. And being shallow you can get a ton of time off of a tank. We'll be back in July for three days, seven dives.
Edit: To add dive operators that we have personally used. We had great times with all three of them.
Aquanutz, Capt Konecinik, 941-961-2235 (Three tanks $110)
Aristakat, Capt Bostwick, 941-321-0852 (Two tanks $90)
Top 2 Bottom, Captain Dustin, 941-525-8744 (Two tanks $90)
It is now my wife's favorite diving and she is the only one yet to find a meg. It isn't pretty diving, but it is different and can be fun. And being shallow you can get a ton of time off of a tank. We'll be back in July for three days, seven dives.
Edit: To add dive operators that we have personally used. We had great times with all three of them.
Aquanutz, Capt Konecinik, 941-961-2235 (Three tanks $110)
Aristakat, Capt Bostwick, 941-321-0852 (Two tanks $90)
Top 2 Bottom, Captain Dustin, 941-525-8744 (Two tanks $90)
Barnaby'sDad
Contributor
This. You do really need a good imagination to pick some of them out. Ex. One ~4.5” tooth I found off NC had a plant growing on it and was covered in sand. I could just make out a triangular shaped outline of something.
If you’re having a hard time finding teeth...pick up anything that’s a triangular shape, bag it, and sort them up on the surface. You can always just toss rocks/rubble back where they came from.
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