I Hunted for Giant Shark Teeth with No Experience

I'm on a mission to find a tooth from the largest shark to ever exist. The Megalodon is an ancient species that was bigger than a school bus and made great white sharks seem tiny. And their teeth are the holy grail for shark tooth hunters because they're extremely rare and can sell for thousands of dollars. So obviously you already know it. I'm going to try to find one with cheap homemade tools and zero experience. And this ambitious quest doesn't begin here. I gotta go on a little bit of a trip. All the way to here in Venice, Florida. Because I'll tell you why. It's known as the shark tooth capital of the world. And after a short walk around, it was very clear that sharks are a big part of this oceanside town. I traveled over 15 hours to get here, so hopefully it lives up to its name. But here I am with determination, no clue what I'm doing, and in a place I've never been to before. I'm a bit stressed, but here's the plan. I'm going to try two different methods and locations to hopefully increase my chances of finding a Megalodon tooth. But the problem is that I only have two full days here before flying back home. So the pressure is definitely on. I gotta get going. So it's time to test out the first method. And I headed to Venice Beach. Which apparently is one of the more popular spots to find shark teeth. And it's time to reveal to you my tools. I don't know why I said that like an evil villain. But can we do a flashback please to earlier this morning in the hotel? To show you what I packed that took up like half my suitcase. This thing right here, which is actually made for shark tooth hunting. It's a sifter. And you can buy them online for like $50, which is absolutely crazy. So you guys know me. I DIY'd and made one myself before this trip. Whoa, another flashback within a flashback. We're getting crazy over here. But let me show you how I made it. First, this is what you'll need. Some PVC pipe, four corner connectors, a pool noodle, zip ties, quarter inch wire mesh, and a few tools. So to build this thing, you just start by measuring and cutting the PVC pipe. Then use the connectors to attach all the pieces together. Next, get some metal cutters and cut out a piece of the wire mesh. Then using a zip tie, secure it to the PVC pipe. Do this 12 more times and you're left with this. And now for the final step, which involves our pool noodle. Which you immediately have to sacrifice and cut open one side so that it stretches and fits around the pipes. Add some more zip ties all the way around. And bam, it's done. All things considered, this was a very fast and simple build. Now, let's time travel to future me down in Florida, and put this thing to the test. No cool transition, just hard cut right now. The other tool I have is this. A dollar store shovel that helped me out during my gold hunting video, and it's still going strong. So let me show you how this system works. So the sifter floats on top like that, and then take your handy shovel, do a scoop, and then dump it there. And then you kind of shake it around a bit. And then all that's left is the bigger stuff, which hopefully includes a shark tooth. That'd be crazy if there was one just right away on the first try, during the demonstration. But there isn't, just shells, rocks, and seaweed. Let's try it again. Any giant teeth this time? Nope, nothing. So I kept at it, tried again, and nothing. The next few scoops, any luck? Nope, nothing. But guess what I found 20 minutes later? Nothing. This was proving to be much harder than I thought, and I started to lose hope that I would find one. But then... Oh, no way, no way, no way. Oh no, I dropped it. Oh no, I didn't. What? Yes! I know it's not a giant meg tooth, but check that out. That is a proper little shark tooth. I am so excited. I'm definitely keeping this. And don't worry, I brought a very professional high-end shark tooth containing device to put it in. Finding this little shark tooth had me so excited. I legit ran back into the ocean, just pumped up to keep searching, and I was willing to spend my entire day out here in order to find more. But somehow, right away, I found one. And another one. And then again, it was crazy. Nice, check this out. One scoop, but two shark teeth. I was legit having so much fun. This is real life treasure hunting, and these sharp little teeth treasures are very satisfying to find. This one's really cool looking. Wow. It's crazy that this used to be just a tooth inside of a shark's mouth, and now here it is in my hand. When I first started researching for this project, I didn't really understand how shark teeth just end up on a beach in the first place, but I've since learned, and it's actually pretty cool. Welcome to a brief lesson on how shark teeth end up on the beach. You see, a long time ago, Florida as we know it was actually submerged underwater, and it was a full-on sea with all sorts of marine life. Now sharks lose a ton of teeth in their lifetimes, which sink to the ocean floor and become fossilized. Then because of ocean currents and erosion, they eventually get washed up onto the shore. Specifically here at the beaches in Venice. It's like a unique place in the world where it happens. And that's why I've traveled all the way here. I'm determined to find a tooth from the biggest and most terrifying shark to ever exist. I've spent like two and a half hours now searching, and no megalodon teeth yet. These little ones are still really cool though, and I feel like I've definitely gotten better at spotting them. Here, let's do a little game actually. I'll give you 10 seconds to find the four shark teeth that are in here. Ready? Go. Here's where they are. One here, one there, another one, and this little baby one right here. Which was probably a bit unfair because it's so tiny. But if you spotted this one, then that's impressive. It's just, it's not what I'm here for. I haven't found any megalodon teeth yet, and time is ticking away. So I just got to keep going. But I'm hungry. So I took a lunch break to eat a fresh lobster roll. Wow, that's good. Also kind of random, but I saw on the menu that apparently you can order alligator, which I had no clue was a thing, and that's one food I've never tried before. But I feel like this Canadian boy might just have to try it. So here's the deal. If I find a megalodon tooth, then I will order and eat gator for the very first time ever. I looked it up and apparently people say that it tastes like swampy chicken, which doesn't sound that good at all. So hopefully I don't regret this statement. After absolutely devouring the rest of my lunch, it was time to fix the problem with my shovel. You see, the handle is so short, which makes it very difficult to reach all the way to the bottom where the sand is, resulting in me getting absolutely dummied by the waves a few times. And then the other issue is that it just doesn't hold that much. So I got to upgrade it. And I've seen lots of people that are also searching for teeth using these metal scooper things right here. They look really legit, and I feel like they would solve all the problems with my shovel. I found this stand thing that's selling them, and you can even buy them at $7.11, but it's $40 that I ain't spending. So let me show you what else I packed in my suitcase. A metal strainer from my kitchen. And then I got this broom from the dollar store. Don't need this part. So begins the janky tool construction hotel room edition. And it's gonna be pretty simple. There's just one step. All I'm gonna do is attach the two together using this hose clamp. But I don't have a screwdriver, so I may do with a clothes hanger. Oh yeah, that's on there good. Not a lightsaber, but a janky DIY shark tooth finding tool. Look at that. I'll just be scooping them up. No back breaking, can get nice and deep now. Oh yeah, look at that masterpiece. All right, let's go back to the beach and take this thing for a test drive. But I'm gonna try a different local beach this time to see if I have better luck. With this masterpiece of a tool though, I probably won't even need luck. No way. Look how easily it scoops, and a huge amount too. My DIY scooper is working great. I'm picking up way bigger shells and rocks here, so I have a feeling that this location is gonna be good. Meg tooth, here I come. This was great confidence in the moment, but I hate to say it. After like an hour of searching, all I found was another little shark tooth, which I kept, and this fish that I somehow scooped up, which I didn't keep. Don't worry, I let him go. I kept at it for another hour and a half. I was sweaty and tired and my hands were all shriveled up and pruney. And still no giant Meg tooth. I'm not feeling discouraged though, it's okay. Yeah, yeah I am actually, if I'm being honest with you. There's a lot riding on this, like I'm gone from the family for a few days. I came all the way out here, so it's just, it's gotta work. It's uh, it's as simple as that. I just, I gotta find one. But as the sun began to set, I had to accept defeat. And with disappointment and a bit of sunburn, I headed back to the hotel. In total for day one, I found all of these, which are really cool, don't get me wrong, but they just aren't prehistoric giant shark teeth. And that's my goal here. So hopefully tomorrow, I can find one. Good morning people. Today is my final day here in Florida. I catch a flight home bright and early tomorrow, so that means it all comes down to this really. I'm definitely feeling the pressure, but let's get things going. I started the day by brushing my teeth, took a shower, then shaved off my mustache. Just kidding, that'd be crazy, but I did enjoy some complimentary coffee and breakfast. And now I've got about an hour's drive because we're testing out the next method. And I'm feeling pretty confident because I've got a secret weapon. And his name is Jim. Glad you could make it. Welcome to Florida. He's a Florida outdoorsman and master shark tooth finder. He even brought some mag teeth from his own collection to show me, and I was very impressed. What? Look at that. Jim, you're going to help me find a maglet on tooth hopefully. 100% chance. Yeah? Yep. With Jim's cool confidence, we grabbed our tools, which were a bit fancier from what I'd been using, but the sifters were still homemade, just bigger than my PVC pipe version. Then we headed down for the first look at the boat that would be taking us out on the river. All these things are sweet. Have you ever been on an airboat? No, never. My background is canoes. Which seemed very different than this airboat. I'm excited to get out on the river, just a nice chill cruise, meandering around. This was the opposite of meandering. We were absolutely zooming down the river so incredibly fast. We were powered by this turbo fan engine thing, and it was really fun. I definitely love airboats now. They're so cool. And what was also pretty cool was when we stopped for my first ever wild alligator sighting. We definitely don't have these scary guys back home. And after we parked the boat really close to it, I was a bit concerned. We're digging right here. And the alligator's like right there though. Maybe I'll stay in the boat. But then the boat just dropped us off and left. I thought the captain was joking about leaving us. In the middle of the river. And I mean literally in the middle of the river. Apparently, we would be digging in the deepest part. Here we go. Then like five minutes in, I slipped on a rock and cut my knee pretty badly. Classic clumsy Connor. Although I can laugh about it now, in the moment, I was pretty worried about just one thing. Are gators attracted to blood? I cut my knee a little bit on that rock. If you die, then you have to worry about getting bleeding. Okay, okay. Good to know. Just don't die is your advice. But into the river I went, bleeding knee and all. Hoping to find a magtooth and not a gator. I quickly learned that this was a lot more work than the beach sifting. We were digging up the hardened bottom part of the river, making each scoop super heavy and full of clay and big rocks. We were out here with Chris from Fossil Recovery and he helped teach me the technique, which was definitely going to take some time to master. Jim with the first find. The biggest magtooth. Wow, just chuck it back. We don't even... No, kidding, kidding. We're only going up from here, Connor. Yes, I like it. I love the confidence. Although it was just a regular small shark tooth, it was the motivation that we needed as it confirmed that the river did in fact have some hidden treasures for us to find. Oh, got something. Check it out. First bigger tooth. Not a mag, but definitely more fun to find than the little guys. Lower hastellus. What he said. What I said, yeah. This is actually my favorite. Really? It really is, yeah. I agree. I think they're cooler than a megalodon. And it's a lower, so it's got that dagger shape. Congratulations, dude. Okay, now we just got to find bigger. You're halfway there. Yeah, that's legit. We only have a few hours until the boat would come back to get us, and I have a flight home tomorrow, so this is it. I need to accomplish my goal here and now. Scoop after scoop, we were working as hard as we could. The sun was beating down on us, and I was still thinking about those alligators lurking nearby, and unfortunately, we just weren't having any luck. Anything? Not yet. No mags? No mags. That familiar feeling of disappointment started to creep in, and I knew it wouldn't be long before the boat came back and my time here at the river would be over. And honestly, I was really struggling to accept that. I was really hoping that I could find one, but things are not looking good. Okay, one more try. I think that's what I gotta do it. One last try. Here we go. I've learned a lot over the course of this project, and one of the main things is that sometimes, that moment right when you're about to give up, if you push past that feeling of wanting to quit, that might just be when you find what you've been searching for. And moments later, Jim found a magtooth as well. That's right. I could not believe it. I was finally holding a megalodon tooth. It was so much bigger than the regular shark teeth I had found the day before. And it'd be pretty crazy if I found another one, right? Like, that's probably very... That's crazy. This is my new prized possession, and it made the past few days and this entire difficult journey all worth it. The boat returned to pick us up, and there's only one thing left to do. A well-earned dinner of gator nuggets. That's actually pretty good. But not as good as the sweet taste of victory, knowing that I am now one of the few people who can say that they've found a megalodon shark tooth.