North Carolina Shark Tooth Fossil Diving

[miamihurricane34]

Has anyone gone out off NC for Megs? My friend and I want to plan a trip out there and was wondering if anyone on here had gone and could recommend a boat to either use or stay away from. thanks.

 

[SelkieDVM]

I've been Meg tooth hunting with Aquatic Safaris out of Wilmington. They are a quality operation. On my trip (first and only so far) I came up with a nice 5" specimen, though not everyone on the boat found any. If you want to hire a guide, Andre is very good at knowing where to look. Look for their charters to Fossil Ledge.

http://aquaticsafaris.com

Cheers,
L.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I went out earlier this year with Cape Fear Divers. It was a LONG ride out (3.5 hours) and I was seasick as hell...not fun. Even being extra seasick, that's what I managed to pick up on my first time out.

Note that QUANTITY does not equate to QUALITY. There have been plenty of people this year that come up with 50+ teeth in one dive, and the entire dive boat combined comes up with several hundred by the end of the day. BUT...I will almost guarantee you that any teeth you find offshore won't have fully intact serrations, will have cracks/chips/dings etc from rolling around in the ocean for millions of years. The rivers of Eastern NC, however...

I'd much rather have one fantastic tooth that's higher quality than a number of mediocre teeth. Then again, with my current lack of meg teeth...any are better than none. And seriously, except for the serious fossil collector, just about any 5" meg tooth is impressive to your average person off the street.

 

[fireflock]

Spearit charters Home has the best reputation in the region for the quality and variety of their tooth sites. They have sites that no one else visits. If you're serious about tooth hunting, or you are looking for a small boat (6-pack) charter, spearit is the way to go. The one downside is that they are very popular and summer days get booked well in advance.

If you want to book just a spot or two on a bigger boat, Aquatic Safaris is a good choice.

Rich

 

[pheraghty]

I would call Calvin Shaw at Aquatic Pleasures Dive Center (contact information below). He runs trips to the ledges regularly.

Aquatic Pleasures Dive Center
136 West Virginia Avenue
Bessemer City, NC 28016
704-629-3101
704-629-3116 (fax)
Aquatic Pleasures Dive Center

 

[pheraghty]

It was a LONG ride out (3.5 hours) and I was seasick as hell...not fun.

If sea sickness is a serious issue for you and you do not mind low visibility environment you might want to try diving the Cooper River west of Charleston, SC.

If you dive the Cooper River you will not just be diving for megalodon (Carcharodon megalodon) teeth. The Cooper River regularly produces early-man & Indian pottery and other artifacts, vintage antique bottles, fossilized shark teeth & bones, whale rib & ear bones, American Mastodon & Wooly Mammoth bones & teeth, arrowheads, lance and spear points and Revolutionary and Civil War artifacts.

Diving in the Cooper River is at a depth of 15 – 80 ffw (brackish) with slack to high currents and low visibility conditions. This type of diving is not for everyone but the search for the ever elusive seven and a quarter inch megalodon tooth has made the Cooper River System the most popular inland diving location in South Carolina.

If you decide to dive the Cooper River I recommend Cooper River Dive Charters for your trip. Captain Johnny runs a tight shop/ship and has a great knowledge of all the ‘good’ spots.

 

[SparticleBrane]

The Cooper is well known for it's meg tooth (and other artifacts). I'm planning to hit up some of the less well-known rivers here in NC this summer. I'm sure I will hit up the Cooper at some point.

Basically any river east of I95 in NC will product teeth, from what I've been told. Of course, most people won't work for them, which makes things nice since they aren't crowded.

Unfortunately, the issue right now is the drought. With such low levels of rainfall over the past year, the rivers aren't flowing. Rivers with no flow aren't great for finding artifacts/fossils, because any silt you stir up in the process doesn't get blown downstream. Pickings will be better when the drought is over.

In my defense, seas were running 6+ft all day on that particular charter...and the drammamine I took before had expired. *slaps face*

 

[pheraghty]

Unfortunately, the issue right now is the drought. With such low levels of rainfall over the past year, the rivers aren't flowing. Rivers with no flow aren't great for finding artifacts/fossils, because any silt you stir up in the process doesn't get blown downstream. Pickings will be better when the drought is over.

I can't speak for the other rivers, but the Cooper is running over 3 knots twice a day al the way to Goose Creek. This is due to the tidal forces effecting the river.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I can't speak for the other rivers, but the Cooper is running over 3 knots twice a day al the way to Goose Creek. This is due to the tidal forces effecting the river.

This is true -- however, most of the rivers I want to dive here in NC aren't affected quite to that extreme. Most are practically standing still at the moment. In fact, most of them are affected by the amount of rainfall rather than the ocean. This is easily seen on any USGS water graph. There's a huge spike when it rains and it slowly goes back down...

While I will probably dive the Cooper at some point, it's a 4.5 hour drive from here, while there are rivers much closer to me that most people don't dive/don't really know about.

 

[seaducer]

I don't know, that looks like a nice haul to my eyes! I was planning to hit both SC and NC this year, but if the goods are that way all the time I might save the gas...