| Our
loot included the big black
Megalodon tooth (a gift from the
Divemaster) along with several
smaller teeth from the mega mouth,
along with many fossilized bones of
ancient marine and land animals who
called this area home millions of
years ago. Photo by Rachel
Davis. |
|
Reef
Report
Shark Tooth Fossil Dive with
Venice Dive Center
Sunday, July 31
Megalodon, meaning "big tooth", is an
extinct species of mackerel shark that
lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million
years ago, from the Early Miocene to
the Pliocene epochs. Estimates
suggest that a megalodon was about 67
feet long and weighed up to 114 tons -
ancestor of today's great white shark.
Our mission was to find the fossilized
remains of the teeth of this ginormous
apex predator in the warm, murky
waters of the Gulf of Mexico off of
Venice on Florida's West Coast.
Dive 1: Try Too -
seas less than 1 foot, depth 29, water
temp 87 degrees, viz 10 maybe, no
current. The water was a murky green
as we descended into the unknown.
Interestingly as we got closer to the
bottom the water became clearer so it
was easy to see the endless amount of
clam shells, along with puffy algae
and sea grass on the bottom to look
for the shark's teeth. I honestly
never expected to enjoy this dive as
much as I did but it was truly
fascinating. It was another world down
there more akin to what you might find
at the Blue Heron Bridge with all the
unusual critters than diving in the
ocean. There was an abundance of sea
robins (the unusual fish with the legs
of a lobster and the wings of a flying
gurnard). In addition we saw a
pipehorse, seahorse and many curious
bluestriped grunts who looked on our
fossil hunting with great
curiosity. Coming up from this
dive mostly empty-handed, we didn't
realize that the captain saved the
best spot for last.
Dive 2: "64" - seas
less than 1 foot, depth 29, water temp
87 degrees, viz 10 maybe, no current.
Before doing my giant stride for this
dive I asked the captain when he
needed us back by. "There's no time
limit," he replied. No what?!? I was
thinking. Hmm... I got 82 minutes of
bottom time on both dives, and what a
pleasure that was not to be rushed,
and not to have pushy, anxious crew
eager to get back to get the afternoon
trip back. That said, I was so
completely comfortable and enamored
with fossil diving at this point that
the first 60 minutes went by in a
flash. Mainly because this was the
GOOD spot. There were fossils
everywhere. Fossilized manatee bones,
ancient horse teeth from when this
used to be a lush valley and not a
sea, and some spoke of even human
remains in hushed tones. That said, in
addition to several shark's teeth in
including a couple from the Mega
shark, we came up with a plethora of
bony fossilized remains that we could
only imagine might have belonged to
ancient animals and perhaps even
humans that inhabited this areas
millions of years ago. There was even
a piece of petrified wood! And one
highlight from this dive was small
jumping clams that would open up their
jaws then spurt water out, propelling
themselves in a jumping fashion over
the bottom. At times we saw two or
three of them dancing around under
their own power. It gave new meaning
to the term, "as happy as a clam!"
Kudos to Active Divers volunteer and
Dive Selection Committee member Jean
Gruss for suggesting we add this
awesome experience to our dive
schedule this year. And don't worry if
you missed it - the general consensus
is that we will add it again to next
year's schedule.
--
Active Divers Vice President and
Safety Officer Rachel Davis |
|
| As
happy as a clam with our shark tooth
diving experience: (from left) Juan
Merino, Jean Gruss, Rachel Davis,
Vicki Yarbrough, Roger Bach,
Kathleen Whitcomb, Juan Sanso, John
Davis. |
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| Hurry!
Sign up for your favorite
dives today before they
sell out! |
|
|
Saturday,
August 6
Pompano Beach
Copenhagen Wreck/Nursery
Opening of Florida Lobster
Season
South Florida Diving HQ
Check in at 12:00 noon
HURRY!
ONLY 2 SPACES LEFT!
BOOK
THIS DIVE |
|
|
Saturday,
August 13
Blackwater Drift Dive
Walker's Dive Charters
RESCHEDULED!!!
Check in time 6:00 p.m.
ADVANCED DIVE
HURRY!
ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT
Contact Rachel at 786-316-9852
to book this dive. |
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|
 |
| Curious about
the Blackwater Drift Dive? Check out
this video and see what it's all
about! |
|
Saturday,
August 20
Islamorada
Key
Dives
Check in at 12:00 noon
DIVE
FULL - Contact Rachel at
786-316-9852 to be added to
the waitlist.
|
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|
Sunday,
August 28
Goliath Grouper
Aggregation
Kyalami
Charters
Check in at 9:00 a.m.
ADVANCED DIVE
DIVE
FULL - Contact
Rachel at 786-316-9852 to be
placed on the waitlist |
|
|
 |
| Have you ever
witnessed the Goliath Grouper
Aggregation? This annual phenomenon
occurs in the West Palm Beach/Jupiter
area in the Fall. This video shows
what it's like to dive with these
amazing giants! |
|
Friday,
September 9
Blue Heron Bridge
Night Dive
Force
E Dive Center - Riviera
Beach
Check in at the park 7:00 p.m.
FREE!
Pick up your parking pass at
Force E before coming to the
park.
Contact Rachel at 786-316-9852
to sign up. |
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