More Teeth

 We took another trip out to Shark Tooth Island.

We ended up going at high tide

and the wind was blowing steady so it was pretty rough.

There was hardly any beach visible.

But we thought we might find something

since the water had been lapping against the cliffs.

 We managed to find 6 shark teeth.

 Three of them

(the longest ones)

are from a Sand Tiger Shark

It's very scary looking

but is actually quite docile.

The other teeth were from a 

Tiger Shark

The other is a possible 

Atlantic Angel Shark tooth

They're shaped a lot like a stingray

and hunt prey by burying themselves in the sand.

They aren't dangerous unless you mess with it,

then it has the ability to inflict severe lacerations.

So even though it looks kind of like a flattened dragon,

don't pet it.

 When we were ready to leave, 

we had to hike out to the boat.

But the water was warm

even if the wind was chilly.

Shark Teeth

I've really come to love looking for shark teeth. 

 As I mentioned in yesterday's post, 

it's sometimes difficult spotting teeth on the beach with everything looking like it might be a tooth.  

Though I've watched people walk along the sand and pick them up.

I've had my luck using a simple sand sifter.

 These are the teeth we found a couple of years ago.

The largest was actually found sitting on the sand and was identified as 

a fossilized tiger shark tooth.  

The other two are fossilized sand shark teeth found using a sifter.

This year I walked a long stretch of beach looking for any teeth just sitting there waiting to be picked up.  Yeah, I was hoping for the Holy Grail of teeth- a megalodon tooth, but I saw nothing.

Upon my return to the group, I learned that my mother had found a decent sized tooth using the sifter.

So the Brat Child and I followed suit.  After about 15 minutes, we got lucky and found a tooth that was nearly identical to my mother's.  

Shortly after I found another smaller tooth.

The two larger teeth are from a Sand Tiger Shark

  Despite looking mean and ferocious, 

Sand Tiger Sharks are actually docile attacking humans only when provoked.  

They grow to 6.5 to 10.5 feet

and are the only sharks known to come to the surface and gulp air.

They store the air in their stomach to allow them to float motionless while looking for prey.

Sand Tigers give birth to live young called pups who are able to swim and eat immediately.

They are considered a threatened species because of low reproductive rates.