Shark Week: Hunting for Shark’s Teeth–a fun outing in Florida!

I’ve lived in Florida most all of my life and I’ve only ever found ONE shark’s tooth. My husband loves to go to the beach and walk and look, but we just never find them.

I’m one of those people that for gifts I rather give experiences, so for Father’s Day, I found Fossil Florida through a friend and booked Chase for a 4 hour private fossil/shark’s tooth dig for 4 people.

My father in law, Felix, my hubby, Andy and my daughter Spencer woke up early one Friday morning to meet up with Chase in Gainesville.

My haul!

We were hunting for about 3 hours or so and I found about 120 shark’s teeth, plus sting ray teeth, an alligator tooth plus some other stuff, including a broken Megladon tooth.

I posted a photo on Facebook and EVERYONE was asking me how we found so many shark’s teeth, where, etc.

I have been back since, when my brother came to town, but we just went by ourselves, not with Chase. I HIGHLY recommend going with Chase. One of the biggest reasons is his knowledge.

He is super friendly, great with kids and REALLY knowledgeable about everything you find and run across. He loves what he does and you can tell! Plus he goes to different places all over the state to hunt!

My daughter found a huge Megalodon tooth that she is sooo proud of. My father in law found a tooth that Chase absolutely loved, my FIL tried to give it to him, but he refused, but politely offered to turn it into a necklace for my FIL.

Cell phone photo of my daughter, Spencer, and her Megalodon tooth!

Chase said he has found arrowheads while doing the digs also!

We had a great experience and I wanted to share it with everyone and with this week being Shark Week, and Chase just having his first boy (shark theme nursery, of course!) this last month, this seemed like the perfect time!

He provides EVERYTHING you need for your hunt and is a great host that keeps digging and refilling your sifter with sand/fossils! All you need is a bottle of water, swimsuit and maybe some snacks!

Read all the way to the end for my review and a DISCOUNT CODE!!!

Cell phone shot of Chase and his daughter hunting!

From Chase: We are super excited about shark week, my daughters are making shark art and Wednesday I am displaying my shark tooth art at Art Walk in Jacksonville! 

My grandmother was a pro at finding shark teeth at the beach, I would walk next to her and not finding any as she picked them up right and left.

I remember always looking at her piece of art my aunt made for her with their findings from a trip to Fernandina Beach–It has hundreds of shark teeth and even a nice 2” Megalodon!

I always looked for them at the beach, and in the shell cart path ways at the golf course, but it wasn’t until a friend of mine showed me that you could find them by diving in the dark creeks I grew up swimming and fishing in.

The first time I went looking in a creek, over 10 years ago, I found a 2.5” Megalodon tooth and I was hooked! My favorite place to hunt fossils is scuba diving or snorkeling in Florida waters like deep creeks/rivers. The fossils accumulate in the gravel when the water ways wash through the ancient layers. 

The teeth I found–Christy

I have found the fossilized teeth and bones of many of Florida’s extinct and living animals, from alligators and dolphins to horses and bears. Shark teeth being the most common of course.

In the past year, I have picked up approximately 100,000 shark teeth of all different shapes sizes and colors. The majority of them going into my fossil Florida artwork, the largest of which contained almost 10,000 teeth alone!

One of Chase’s pieces on his website. Florida COMPLETELY made with fossils!

A large variety of recognizable shark teeth and other fossils go into our interactive fossil dig kits as well!

One of my favorite finds is a 3.5” perfect ancient dolphin/whale relative known as a delphinodon. They aren’t found too often and it’s the only one like it I have seen!

Anything funny ever happen? I once took a family to a small private creek and ran across a 7’ rat snake, I grabbed it by the tail and tossed it off in the woods. The family was a little surprised, but that’s how Florida is.

How do you see your company in five years? I will continue making art, leading private guides and expanding our jewelry and dig kit lines.

Sharks lose an average of 30,000 teeth in their lifetime, that times millions of sharks, and 400 million years, there are still many to be found!

We will be expanding our private guide areas, and looking to start taking children’s groups in the future!

How can people book you?

DISCOUNT CODE to get a free mini dig kit with any purchase from the website: Sharkblog

fossilauctions@gmail.com

www.fossilforida.com

Details of some of the teeth I found. The bottom right is an alligator tooth.
Cell phone photo of our gang. Chase provided the sifting pans and the bags to put our teeth in.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christy Whitehead is a photographer in Jacksonville, Florida. She often shoots product photography and head shots in her studio and on location.

School is Back in Session: Creative Ways to Photograph the First Day of School

ICongrats parents, you made it! You survived summer break. Here’s some ideas for those back to school portraits.

The first day of school is a milestone for all kids and parents. I always try to catch a photo of my kids on their first day to show how big they were, what they wore, etc. Over the years, it’s fun to look back on those images and to see how much they’ve grown from one year to the next

Below are some really cute ideas that you can use to make your child’s first day of school photos memorable and unique.

  1. Get a shot of the outfit. You’ve spent the time choosing the perfect outfit for this day so why not hang it up somewhere and get a shot of it before they get dressed? Lay the outfit out on your child’s bed and take a shot from above or place it on a cute hanger and hang it against the door. Then, once your little one has it on, let them give you their best model pose with it on!
  2. Use a blackboard. Incorporate a cute blackboard with a frame into the photos. Fill the blackboard with facts such as the date, their age or even what they want to be when they grow up. Easels also work really well for this and will give you more space to be creative.
  3. A drawing. Get your child to draw themselves on their first day of school and include this in your photo. Or have them write their name and incorporate that into the photo to show off how their penmanship has changed as well.
  4. Show their progress. While taking a picture on the first day of school is a must, make a point of taking a photo on the last day of the school year too. It’s always kind of sad to compare the two photos for me. Another sweet idea is to get your kid to pose with their first day of school photo from the previous year to show their progress. Or have them wear the same outfit as the first day of school!

By having fun and making this moment a big deal for your children, you will instill confidence in them and prepare them for the day and year ahead. Good luck parents!