cdiver2
Contributor
BY BILL BLEYER
STAFF WRITER
January 16, 2005
I already knew about the strong currents and limited visibility in the silt-laden water when I signed up to dive South Carolina's Cooper River in search of large prehistoric fossilized shark teeth more than a million years old.
But I was taken aback on the ride out to the first dive site when guide Phill Myers mentioned another hazard: alligators.
"We've had close encounters," Myers drawled matter-of-factly as he motored his pontoon boat from Cypress Gardens Landing, where he had launched, toward the river, which runs into Charleston Harbor about 25 miles to the south.
"If you see a gator in close proximity, just drop back down on the bottom and swim away. I have never heard of a gator following a person down."
Somewhat reassured, I proceeded to fulfill my desire to explore the Cooper generated years ago when friends had shown me their finds: shiny, dark shark teeth millions of years old and up to 6 inches long.
I had driven 45 minutes north from Charleston to meet Myers and his other customer, construction worker Allen Starnes, at the landing on a canal near the town of Goose Creek.
The overcast, drizzly day certainly wouldn't help the visibility underwater, I thought. But Myers joked that the water is so opaque that "it doesn't make any difference."
As the 23-foot pontoon boat cruised past the remnants of abandoned rice fields, Myers continued his briefing: "You have to dive with some current," he said. "Otherwise the silt blows out the visibility." But because the current can run several miles an hour, you have to carry a screwdriver or a spike on a lanyard to stick into the gravel to stay put.
I had brought dive lights adequate for the often lousy visibility in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island. But Starnes, a veteran Cooper River diver, knew that the more light, the more teeth you'll find. So he had mounted two truck headlights on a helmet.
In their years on the river, Starnes and Myers have found bucketfuls of teeth. "The really big ones are very rare," Myers said of the 6-inch megalodon teeth. "But every weekend, somebody's finding a big one."
"They're all over this country down here," Myers said of the shark teeth fossils. That's because what is now the Carolina low country was under the ocean millions of years ago.
Starnes said the visibility usually ranged from 2 to 3 feet, but he has done dives where the visibility was "nothing." Myers, who's found bottles dating back to the 1690s, arrowheads, and Colonial and Revolutionary War artifacts in seven years on the river, added, "I have seen as good as 22 feet."
Myers anchored in 32 feet of water and offered his final advice: Focus on what's lying loose on the gravel bottom rather than wasting time digging.
I slipped over the side into yellowish-brown water. As soon as I had dropped a few feet, it was black, and I couldn't see my hand in front of my face or the bottom until I crashed into it. When I switched on my light, I could see 6 inches to a foot ahead. It was a little creepy, but no worse than some dives off Long Island.
I walked with my hands across the gravel beds, occasionally encountering foreboding sunken trees that threatened to entangle me. When the current accelerated, I stabbed the stainless-steel spike provided by Myers into the bottom.
Initially, all I saw were irregular-shaped pieces of gravel. But after seven minutes, I encountered something definitely triangular and shiny. When I picked it up and shined my light on it, there was a shark's tooth, an inch and a half long.
After 55 minutes, I grabbed my best find of the day, a 3-inch tooth. I ended the first dive after 75 minutes with five teeth and a prehistoric mammal bone. I thought I had done well until Starnes came up with several dozen teeth.
Myers moved the boat for the second dive, where I found five more teeth about 2 inches long and a shard of late 19th century stoneware. I wasn't surprised when Starnes surfaced with about two dozen teeth and a broken antique wine goblet.
Minutes later, Starnes pointed off the bow and said, "There's a gator." It was moving from one riverbank to the other about 50 yards out.
"About a 4- or 5-footer," Myers commented. "There are 10- or 12-footers out here." He knew of only one instance of a diver having a run-in with a gator; it tore his dive gear and left a little red spot on his hip.
So I was glad when he moved the boat for the last dive, which proved to be the most frustrating. After 62 minutes all I had found was one small tooth. Starnes found three vertebrae from prehistoric whales and sharks and another pile of teeth including a 5-inch megalodon, and a bullet casing.
"It takes a while before you start recognizing things," Myers said sympathetically.
I was only half-listening. I was already thinking of when I could get back to South Carolina to find a 6-incher.
IF YOU GO
There are more than a half-dozen commercial dive operations that take people shark-teeth hunting on South Carolina's Cooper River.
Divers, who must have experience with currents and poor visibility, pay about $75 for a two-dive trip and about $85 for three dives.
Water temperatures vary from the 80s in the summer to the high 40s in winter, so a light wet suit is needed in the summer and thicker suit or dry suit in the winter.
The dive operators include Phill Myers of Backwater Diversions (803-492-7904 or www.backwaterdiversions.com) and Johnny Cercopely of Cooper River Dive Charters (843-572-0459 or www.cooperriverdiving.com).
STAFF WRITER
January 16, 2005
I already knew about the strong currents and limited visibility in the silt-laden water when I signed up to dive South Carolina's Cooper River in search of large prehistoric fossilized shark teeth more than a million years old.
But I was taken aback on the ride out to the first dive site when guide Phill Myers mentioned another hazard: alligators.
"We've had close encounters," Myers drawled matter-of-factly as he motored his pontoon boat from Cypress Gardens Landing, where he had launched, toward the river, which runs into Charleston Harbor about 25 miles to the south.
"If you see a gator in close proximity, just drop back down on the bottom and swim away. I have never heard of a gator following a person down."
Somewhat reassured, I proceeded to fulfill my desire to explore the Cooper generated years ago when friends had shown me their finds: shiny, dark shark teeth millions of years old and up to 6 inches long.
I had driven 45 minutes north from Charleston to meet Myers and his other customer, construction worker Allen Starnes, at the landing on a canal near the town of Goose Creek.
The overcast, drizzly day certainly wouldn't help the visibility underwater, I thought. But Myers joked that the water is so opaque that "it doesn't make any difference."
As the 23-foot pontoon boat cruised past the remnants of abandoned rice fields, Myers continued his briefing: "You have to dive with some current," he said. "Otherwise the silt blows out the visibility." But because the current can run several miles an hour, you have to carry a screwdriver or a spike on a lanyard to stick into the gravel to stay put.
I had brought dive lights adequate for the often lousy visibility in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island. But Starnes, a veteran Cooper River diver, knew that the more light, the more teeth you'll find. So he had mounted two truck headlights on a helmet.
In their years on the river, Starnes and Myers have found bucketfuls of teeth. "The really big ones are very rare," Myers said of the 6-inch megalodon teeth. "But every weekend, somebody's finding a big one."
"They're all over this country down here," Myers said of the shark teeth fossils. That's because what is now the Carolina low country was under the ocean millions of years ago.
Starnes said the visibility usually ranged from 2 to 3 feet, but he has done dives where the visibility was "nothing." Myers, who's found bottles dating back to the 1690s, arrowheads, and Colonial and Revolutionary War artifacts in seven years on the river, added, "I have seen as good as 22 feet."
Myers anchored in 32 feet of water and offered his final advice: Focus on what's lying loose on the gravel bottom rather than wasting time digging.
I slipped over the side into yellowish-brown water. As soon as I had dropped a few feet, it was black, and I couldn't see my hand in front of my face or the bottom until I crashed into it. When I switched on my light, I could see 6 inches to a foot ahead. It was a little creepy, but no worse than some dives off Long Island.
I walked with my hands across the gravel beds, occasionally encountering foreboding sunken trees that threatened to entangle me. When the current accelerated, I stabbed the stainless-steel spike provided by Myers into the bottom.
Initially, all I saw were irregular-shaped pieces of gravel. But after seven minutes, I encountered something definitely triangular and shiny. When I picked it up and shined my light on it, there was a shark's tooth, an inch and a half long.
After 55 minutes, I grabbed my best find of the day, a 3-inch tooth. I ended the first dive after 75 minutes with five teeth and a prehistoric mammal bone. I thought I had done well until Starnes came up with several dozen teeth.
Myers moved the boat for the second dive, where I found five more teeth about 2 inches long and a shard of late 19th century stoneware. I wasn't surprised when Starnes surfaced with about two dozen teeth and a broken antique wine goblet.
Minutes later, Starnes pointed off the bow and said, "There's a gator." It was moving from one riverbank to the other about 50 yards out.
"About a 4- or 5-footer," Myers commented. "There are 10- or 12-footers out here." He knew of only one instance of a diver having a run-in with a gator; it tore his dive gear and left a little red spot on his hip.
So I was glad when he moved the boat for the last dive, which proved to be the most frustrating. After 62 minutes all I had found was one small tooth. Starnes found three vertebrae from prehistoric whales and sharks and another pile of teeth including a 5-inch megalodon, and a bullet casing.
"It takes a while before you start recognizing things," Myers said sympathetically.
I was only half-listening. I was already thinking of when I could get back to South Carolina to find a 6-incher.
IF YOU GO
There are more than a half-dozen commercial dive operations that take people shark-teeth hunting on South Carolina's Cooper River.
Divers, who must have experience with currents and poor visibility, pay about $75 for a two-dive trip and about $85 for three dives.
Water temperatures vary from the 80s in the summer to the high 40s in winter, so a light wet suit is needed in the summer and thicker suit or dry suit in the winter.
The dive operators include Phill Myers of Backwater Diversions (803-492-7904 or www.backwaterdiversions.com) and Johnny Cercopely of Cooper River Dive Charters (843-572-0459 or www.cooperriverdiving.com).
