Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • How about having some fun, taking part in a real adventure, touching the real ancient

  • history, and earning a lot of moneyand all of it at the same time?

  • Nah, I'm not talking about some king's tomb raiding.

  • I offer you to go on a megalodon tooth hunting adventure!

  • But before we go on the journey, it's important to understand what kind of beast we are dealing

  • with.

  • Megalodon is an ancient marine predator, a giant shark that terrified all the inhabitants

  • of the seas and oceans about 23 to 2.5 million years ago.

  • This monster was the size of a road train and weighed like a tank.

  • The strength of its bite was more than that of a T-Rex, and it had about three hundred

  • teeth.

  • Each of them was the size of an adult human palm.

  • And we go hunting for those "babies".

  • No treasure hunter goes on a journey without knowing the stakes, so here you are: one such

  • tooth is worth from $50 to several thousand dollars.

  • You can picture what you could spend that on, can’t you?

  • So you on board?

  • Then let's do it.

  • First you need to prepare.

  • What we're gonna need is a hat, a whip, signal rockets...

  • Oh, this is not an Indiana Jones movie?

  • Too bad.

  • The reality is much simpler: -Rubber boots.

  • We'll be looking for teeth near the water, and if the weather is bad, youll want your

  • feet warm and dry.

  • Snorkeling mask.

  • Just in case.

  • –A tent.

  • You might have to spend a night under a starry sky.

  • –A sharp knife.

  • In case you have to recover a tooth from stone.

  • –A special basket or hoop-net for filtering water and dirt.

  • You can buy one at a fishing store or do it yourself.

  • The basket is made of metal mesh and attached to a stick.

  • That's it!

  • Now buy a ticket, and the journey begins.

  • You can go almost anywhere: New Zealand, Denmark, South America, Australia, and many other places

  • around the world.

  • Megalodon fossils were found even in the Mariana Trench.

  • This predator swam where it pleased and was at the top of the food chain anywhere.

  • So no need for remote corners of the world.

  • A place with good climate and where civilization isn't very far is nice to combine relaxation

  • and adventure.

  • Florida, then.

  • You buy a ticket for the next flight and spend the next couple of hours making the fishing

  • basket.

  • Looks perfect, doesn’t it?

  • Ha, I’m so proud!

  • Hey, we're landing.

  • People get off the plane and rush to meet their families, or to work, or to rest.

  • You feel special among them, like a secret agent on a mission.

  • So, our next stop is the beach.

  • You rent a jeep, buy a paper map (this is more like an adventure than GPS).

  • You're arriving to this "treasure island" two hours later, and...

  • What’s this?

  • Crowds of people, tents with lemonade, even a parking lot!

  • Shops on the shore sell fishing baskets for $7!

  • And they look better than your "perfect" one.

  • The bad news is that megalodon tooth hunting is one of the most popular entertainments

  • for local residents and tourists alike.

  • It's like Las Vegas, where you have a fishing rod instead of playing cards and shark teeth

  • instead of chips.

  • People rent yachts and scuba diving gear to find the teeth underwater.

  • They even pay for guided tours to places where the teeth can be found.

  • Hunting for a megalodon tooth was a real adventure perhaps 100 years ago, but now it has turned

  • into a business.

  • Florida was underwater millions of years ago, so there are many remains of these predators.

  • But their teeth are the most preserved.

  • The fact is that megalodon, like any shark, could replace its teeth when they fell out.

  • It's like a conveyor belt: a shark clung to its prey very strongly, some teeth fell out,

  • then new ones grew in the shark's jaw.

  • Alright.

  • You're upset a little bit, but you're not giving up.

  • You go as far away from people as possible.

  • 1 mile, 2 miles, 5... okay, stop right here.

  • There’s still a lot of people, but you're so tired that you don't care.

  • You finally get down to fishing.

  • The process is quite simple.

  • Just rake the sand near the water with your fishing basket.

  • Small pebbles and shells remain in the basket when the sea wave leaves, and a shark tooth

  • can also be found among all this.

  • Those lucky enough find them right as soon as they start raking the beach.

  • So, you get to work.

  • No hint of a tooth.

  • Stones, some rubbish and shells.

  • The sun is scorching hot, you're exhausted and want to go home or to the nearest hotel,

  • when all of a sudden... a guy stands up not far from you, looking triumphantly at a treasure

  • he just found.

  • He holds out a tooth about half the size of your palm.

  • "$1000 in my pocket," says the lucky one and leaves the beach.

  • This gives you more strength and motivation.

  • You continue to search and then it starts to rain.

  • You are cold and soaked to the bone.

  • You think, "That's it, I'm leaving," but then you notice that the entire beach is empty

  • because of rain.

  • You are alone for several miles around.

  • It gives you second wind, and you keep going!

  • If you don't want to come here in such weather, then come early in the morning.

  • There will also be very few people.

  • Finally, you find a tooth!

  • Not a megalodon’s, though, just an ordinary shark’s tooth, no more than a couple of

  • inches across.

  • The bigger, the more expensive.

  • Size is measured diagonally.

  • If you find a 7-inch tooth, you can consider yourself rich.

  • But not only size is important, but quality as well.

  • Check the cracks on the tooth.

  • The tooth may fall apart if there are too many.

  • How well is the enamel preserved?

  • The tooth will be more expensive with a sharp end.

  • Root integrity is also important.

  • Bourrelet is appreciated – a thin strip between the root and the blade.

  • Of course, you're unlikely to find a perfect tooth, but such small details greatly affect

  • the price of your find.

  • If the tooth looks really bad, then you can give it for repair.

  • Be ready for it to be two or three times cheaper after that, though.

  • It's getting dark.

  • You're getting ready to leave the beach, when suddenly you hear, "Psst, you there.

  • Are you looking for a shark tooth?" — a thin old man asks you.

  • He is local, and he looks like a magician who comes to the aid of a hero at just the

  • right time.

  • "Of course I am," you reply.

  • The old man is impressed by your will and zeal for the goal.

  • He chooses you and is going to help now.

  • He knows one secret place.

  • You can find megalodon teeth there.

  • "I'll lead you to an ancient cave where history has preserved not only teeth but probably

  • a whole megalodon skeleton,"– the old man tells you and requires 20 bucks for it.

  • You agree.

  • The old man can't get into the cave as he is too weak.

  • So he tells you his secret because you are worthy.

  • It’s starting to sound vaguely familiar -- like the plot of Aladdin, doesn’t it?

  • But you don’t care

  • You try to get to the cave.

  • You have to climb a mountain and squeeze through a small gap between the stones to get inside.

  • Finally, youre there.

  • Sunlight passes between the rocks and illuminates a small azure lake.

  • There are a lot of shells and crabs scurrying around.

  • You are so fascinated that you don't notice a heart drawing and a date painted on the

  • cave wall.

  • Someone has been here before you, obviously.

  • You start digging the sand with your fishing basket and finally find it!

  • Not 7, but all of 9 inches!

  • Pristine condition!

  • Sharp like a razor!

  • You can get not tens, but hundreds of thousands of dollars with such a tooth.

  • You get out of the cave satisfied, thank the old man for help and go to the nearest...

  • no, not a pawn shop.

  • There are special auctions selling dinosaur fossils, and there are museums that will happily

  • buy your find.

  • But the easiest way to sell it is the Internet.

  • You need to confirm its value and get a detailed examination if you want someone to buy the

  • tooth.

  • You go to an archeological lab.

  • A scientist looks at your tooth through a microscope, raises his eyes at you, and says:

  • "Six."

  • "Six hundred thousand dollars," you specify.

  • "nah.

  • Six dollars, period.”

  • He says.

  • Teeth like this one are sold in a gift shop on the next street."

  • There are so many megalodon tooth hunters that there are even more people who want to

  • make money off them.

  • You can find thousands of fakesand very good ones at that! — on the Internet.

  • Fraudsters can easily fool you, just as the old man didhe threw the tooth into the

  • "secret" cave and arranged the situation as if you had found it.

  • Ingenious.

  • You are flying back home.

  • It's a shame that you were conned out of 20 bucks, but still, you got what you came for.