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I finally made it out for a tooth dive this past weekend and found my first tooth. It was about 4 and 1/2 inches and in pretty good shape. I was the only one out of 5 divers to find one. We mainly searched around the ledge we were on and I got lucky and swam up on a tooth that was laying on top of the rubble beside the ledge. We were also distracted by the large number of big grouper that seemed to like our digging so we didn't get as much tooth hunting done as we had hoped. Visibility was 50'+.
Does anyone have any tips for finding these teeth? I hear stories of a single person coming back with a bunch of teeth and our group of newbies only found 1 total. Are you looking near the ledge? Are you looking out in the sand? How deep? What tools are you using?
I do mine in the Cooper River in Charleston, SC. They have gravel beds along the river and you just drop down, anchor in, and sift. Our first day, we did 4 short dives and came away with more than 30 teeth and other fossils. We found 8 that were huge and put in display cases. Another 5, were about 2 inches long and we made necklaces. They are amazing. We were doing black water diving. 0, and I mean 0 vis. But sooooo much fun. We didn't have to clean ours, they were in fine shae. We washed them and rubbed them off with cloth rags.
I found some other threads on this forum that said to soak it in a 50/50 white vinegar and water mixture for about an hour. Then brush off the trash, rinse, and soak in fresh water for a few hours to make sure the vinegar is off.
That is basically what I did. After soaking it in the vinegar I used a tooth brush to gently get off the loosened trash. A few of the harder to remove places I had to scrape with a butter knife to flake it off. I also used a sharp pointed tool on my swiss army knife to scrape the white crust out of the small cracks. I couldn't get most of it out of the cracks so I re-soaked it in the vinegar and used the tooth brush and it cleaned right up.
Below is the latest pictures after the second soak w/ measurements.
***Thanks, Zen. Good info. There are a lot of deep water rivers in NC that I'm not sure if anyone has even dove in. I would love to try it.
I recognize the growth on the tooth. It is very similar to the growth on the teeth found offshore Venice FL (Shark tooth capital of the world)
They use apple cider vinegar to clean them.
If you research Venice diving on Scubaboard you will find lots of info on how to search the ocean bottom for teeth.
From what I have gathered, the best way is to hover above the bottom (as opposed to laying on it) and move as quickly as you can (without passing over teeth of course). When river diving one typically looks for the enamal. When ocean diving for teeth one looks for triangular shapes.
When river diving one lays on the bottom, fans the sand and digs. When ocean diving for teeth one floats about barely above the bottom and does not dig.
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)
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