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Aahhh…Venice.
The streets of water…gondolas lazily cruise
along the canals and romance beckons at every
turn…What an image - but wrong for our story.
Wrong by several time zones, in fact. For this
is not a tale about the bella Venizia of popular
lore, rather it concerns a stretch of beach along
the Florida Suncoast. This beach bears the name
of the nearby town of Venice, and has established
quite a reputation of its own among Florida's
diving fraternity. For it is along this beach,
in water barely too deep to stand, that the sand
conceals untold treasures - in the form of fossilized
relics from the past.
Venice
Beach lies about an hour and a half's drive south
of our shop in Largo, which is just north of St.
Petersburg. Venice is a beautiful city - resplendent
with date and coconut palms, white sand beaches,
picture postcard views and friendly residents.
The people I've met there have all been very personable
and helpful.
The
area I'm going to tell you about lies near a restaurant
called Sharkey's: definitely not the kind of place
you'd ride to in a gondola, but with its own unique
charm nonetheless. Sharkey's is situated at the
Venice Pier near the Coast Guard station, and
provides a good landmark to begin your search.
Search for what? Ah, to answer that question,
let's first tell a story.
A
Bit of History
Marine
coastlines are ever changing in character, and
Florida's west coast is no exception. Many thousands
of years ago, the main fresh water arteries into
the interior of the state were the Myakka and
Peace Rivers. Many Indian tribes made their homes
and hunted along these rivers. Mammals of all
types came to these waters to drink, while near
the coast, large species of oceanic fish hunted
for food.
As
time passed, the ocean rose, inundating many areas
where the Indians had once lived. Many of the
ancient village sites now lie beneath the waves,
with only pieces of pottery, arrowheads, spear
points and human remains left to bear witness
to their existence. The artifacts are petrified
and preserved not only by the tannic acid of the
rivers, but also the clay of the ancient riverbeds.
Today, the sands just off Venice Beach conceal
many an archaeological treasure of these ancient
civilizations.
I
often visit Venice Beach on a calm day, when the
breeze blows gently from the east. I spend the
day searching the eight to ten foot depths for
these ancient artifacts, and I'm often rewarded.
As with any beach dive, remember to bring along
a blanket to lay your gear on and a dive flag
to tow behind you as you cruise along just outside
the surf line.
A
Toothy Treasure Trove
As
you make your way through the surf, you'll likely
pass a few snorkelers and "beach bums"
collecting sharks' teeth…oh yes, Venice Beach
is also the shark tooth capital of the world.
For reasons that have never been completely understood,
there are an incomprehensible number of fossilized
sharks' teeth along this stretch of Gulf shoreline.
Indeed, as you lay your gear blanket on the sand,
you'll probably find that sand peppered with teeth.
Leave the little ones alone…it's the big
ones you're after.
I
recall one memorable dive where a friend experienced
an unbelievable stroke of luck: As he was gliding
along the bottom, he glanced briefly at a stone
crab den. In that moment, the crab shoved out
what was crowding his living room - a perfectly
formed shark's tooth…two inches long! Such
finds are not unheard of here - there are records
of teeth from what was probably the baddest critter
to ever swim: Carcharadon megalodon. This ancient
shark was a relative of the Great White, but was
at least double its size! The largest teeth ever
found from megalodon are six inches long, and
some scientists have estimated the animal's length
at between 50 and 80 feet. The cavernous jaws
were big enough to engulf a man…while he
was standing up! Since sharks are cartilaginous
and leave no bony remains (other than jaws and
teeth), we may never know what this animal truly
looked like.
I've
been very fortunate: I've actually stumbled onto
the remains of a baby elephant! So far, I've found
the right foreleg, the pelvic rotor cup and a
femur bone. Sorry, but this location is going
to remain a secret. Don't fret, though - you can
easily make the same type of discovery with a
little patience and cooperation from the weather.
As a fellow novice paleontologist told me: pick
up anything black or oddly shaped, you can sort
it out later.
Some
Tips for Your Trip
If
collecting's your bag, here are some things you
can bring with you to make your job easier:
A
milk crate-type container, held at the surface
with a float ball.
A
marker buoy, in case you have to mark your find
and return later.
Gloves
A
small hand rake
Please remember that, although you may get excited
looking for a great find - you have a responsibility
to not destroy the habitat. If you lift a rock
to look under it, place it back the way you found
it. Living organisms colonizing that rock may
take years to come back if they are destroyed.
A few additional words of caution: Stay close
to your dive flag. Stay at least 500 feet away
from the fishing pier. If you're not sure of the
laws, check with one of the local dive shops.
The biggest no-no when it come to artifacts is
to take nothing that is of Native American origin.
You can document the area where the artifacts
were seen, but absolutely do not disturb them.
When
your dive is done, hit the showers then head to
Sharkey's for a grouper sandwich and your beverage
of choice. While you're looking through your day's
treasures, you just may get a local to pause at
your table and remark about the beautiful mako
or sand shark tooth you've found. Chances are
good that they're right, but if you want to research
it yourself, there are plenty of books available
to aid your search. Venice Beach makes for a great
family outing - even the non-divers can hunt teeth
on the shore and in the surf. For divers, the
shallow water offers nearly unlimited bottom time.
That's
it for Venice Beach…a beautiful place, close
to home, and a most unique dive opportunity. If
you'd like to journey to Venice, contact us at
Sunshine Scuba and we'll help in whatever way
we can. Happy hunting!
http://www.sunshinescuba.net/venice.htm
Venice
Beach, Florida
Venice
Beach has a substantial deposit of fossil material
located just offshore. In fact the sand here is
a dark grey, owing to the composition of fossil
material which has been ground into fine particles.
Small shark teeth can often be found lying about
on the beach, but to find the really BIG fossils
you have to don a scuba tank. This is an easy
beach dive with the majority of the fossil deposits
found in about 18-20 feet of water. We have found
thousands of fossilized shark teeth, ranging in
size from nearly microscopic to more than 3-inches
long. Other fossils are also commonly found, both
marine and terrestial in nature. A short list
of some of the items we have found includes:
- shark
teeth
- stingray
spines
- ray
teeth
- barracuda
teeth
- turtle
shell fragments
- porcupine
fish mouth plates
- dugong/manatee
teeth and ribs
- camel
teeth
- horse
teeth
- and
other assorted unidentified bones
http://home.tampabay.rr.com/jcmaze/scuba.html
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