Monster Megaladon Teeth off Wilmington

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kabluton

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Charlotte, NC
# of dives
100 - 199
I have a friend that goes out with a very small boat to a place that used to be frequented by spearfishermen. They are ledges that apparently used to be part of a prehistoric river. Anyway, he has a bucketful of Megaladon teeth that he showed to me. The site(s) were kept a secret for a while but I think one of the operators out of the Wilmington area is running folks out to these spots now. Anyone have information?
 
I hope someone knows because this sounds interesting.
 
Aquatic Safaris runs trips to the fossil ledges. There is also a nice display about fossil ledges at the NC Aquarium at Ft. Fisher (near Wilmington)

Rich
 
kabluton:
I have a friend that goes out with a very small boat to a place that used to be frequented by spearfishermen. They are ledges that apparently used to be part of a prehistoric river. Anyway, he has a bucketful of Megaladon teeth that he showed to me. The site(s) were kept a secret for a while but I think one of the operators out of the Wilmington area is running folks out to these spots now. Anyone have information?

Tom Collins in Carolina Beach runs the "SpearIt" out to the ledges with the Megaladon teeth. I don't have contact info for him, I've just talked to him on VHF as our boats pass. I've talked to several divers who rave about his trips.
 
It is an awesome dive. Locally it is known as the Boneyard. A few years ago some guys were looking for a good spearfishing ledge and stumbled upon it. Since that time they have been going out and collecting thousands of teeth. One of my buddies collected 110 teeth on a single trip, he set them as decorations in his concrete driveway. Another one of my friends told me the boat he was on collected over 600 teeth in one trip. Those days are gone and now finding a couple teeth is the norm. Recently a local diver who has been diving the site found a new spot and found 150 teeth. The teeth are all over the coast but you have to find the right spot. It's not uncommon to find the teeth at any ledge off southeast NC. We've run two charters out through Aquatic Safaris and had some luck with teeth. I've got about 30, of which only 5-6 are really nice. I was out with a friend a month ago and he found 15 complete teeth 3 of which were over 6 inches. You really have to acquire an eye for the teeth it's difficult spotting them the first few dives. I've attached a picture of some of the teeth I found and some friends with there megalodon teeth.

Pat
 
How about some more info regarding the site, i.e. how long does it take to get to the dive site by boat, how deep is the site and marine life?

Thanks
 
It's a long haul to the site out of Wrightsville Beach. It is 40 miles and it takes 2.5hrs to get there. The depth ranges from 90 to 105 feet depending on the location on the ledge. The vis is usually lower then the surrounding areas due to the nature of the site, there is a lot of silt. What I have seen in my handful of dive out there is if the ledge is pretty with a lot of marine life there is not a lot of teeth. If the ledge is small and ugly, there will be teeth. The ledge is continually eroding which over millions of years has exposed all the fossils. There are all kinds of teeth out there other than Megalodons, including great white. Other then teeth there are a lot of fossil whale bones, I have a huge whale vertebrae. I have seen sea turtles, BIG hogfish, slipper and spiny lobster, and warm water marine fish. There is stuff to see but there are much nicer ledges close by if you want to an abundance of marine life. When you're searching for the teeth you have your nose buried in sand so you really don't see much anyway. It's a fun dive but if can be really frustrating if you don't find teeth and someone else comes up with a dozen. When you find teeth you get tooth fever and it can consume you.

Pat
 
Zoe83:
Excuse my ignorance but what are Megalodons?

Quick answer: big sharks, now extinct, lived in the Flintstonecene era. :jaws:

Useful answer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon
Check it out, Wikipedia is a superb website.
They have a nice picutre of a tooth next to a quarter for perspective.
(the quarter looks really small)
 
Anyone interested in finding these teeth that would like to go out August 20 and 21 can call me at 704-896-8464 for information. I have room for 3 more. I have Tom Collins' boat booked for 5 weekends. I have done 16 of these trips and there are still plenty of beautiful teeth. Check out this video.

http://www.charlestondiving.com/pics/teeth.wmv

Matt
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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