Middle Schooler Stumbles Upon Rare Megalodon Tooth On North Carolina Beach During Spring Break
Avery Fauth has inherited her father's passion for searching the beach for special finds like shark teeth.
The family spent their spring break at North Topsail Beach, NC, and Avery made the discovery her family has been searching forโa megalodon tooth!
Carcharodon megalodon, whose name means "big tooth," was a humongous shark species that roamed our planet's oceans from the early Miocene Epoch to the Pliocene (23-3.6 million years ago).
According to the San Diego Natural History Museum, it was the largest meat-eating fish that we know to have existed.
A mosern Great White Shark (Carcharodon charcharias) can grow up to 20 ft (6m). C. megalodon, in contrast, was estimated to reach closer to 59 ft (18m) in length!
Avery told WECT about her excitement at finding the tooth:
"I'm looking around and I see something buried in the sand. I uncovered it and it keeps coming, and it's this big tooth, and then I hold it up and I'm screaming for my mom."
"I was just like is this a dream, because I didn't believe I found it, and then I took it out and it was [a megalodon tooth]. They're really rare to find and they're some pretty big teeth and they're pretty cool."
Avery's dad has been looking for a megalodon tooth for 25 years, and it has become family tradition for the family to search for one whenever they are at the beach.
He said of her find:
"I was pretty surprised. I've been looking for 25 years and I haven't found anything. I was really shocked and excited for her that she found something that big."
Local CBS affiliate, WNCN CBS 17, covered the story of Avery's find on YouTube:
Raleigh girl finds megalodon tooth on beach in North Topsailwww.youtube.com
Fauth said she plans to tell her class about her amazing find when she and her family return to Raleigh, but she will leave the tooth itself home for fear of it being broken.
Some users on Twitter shared their great tooth finds.
@KaileyWECT @wectnews Congratulations! I found these two in the same day about 5 months ago on N. Top Sail. I figurโฆ https://t.co/ycAQq9owpaโ Michael (@Michael) 1555702424.0
@fox12oregon WOW Nice find! ๐ฎ (We found shark tooth at Barview Jetty,, but it was new ๐) https://t.co/Ml4oc7DPzXโ ุณุชููุงูู ๐บ๐ (@ุณุชููุงูู ๐บ๐) 1555654360.0
Others congratulated Fauth in her find.
@fox12oregon @DebraGil Wow!!!! How cool!โ Tabbie Roberts (@Tabbie Roberts) 1555676327.0
There are all sorts of amazing things out there. All you have to do it look!