Tourists uncover massive tooth of prehistoric shark at Cape Lookout, NC park says

A couple of tourists poking around in the sand found a prehistoric shark tooth the size of a human hand at Cape Lookout National Seashore, according to the National Park Service.

The tooth is all that remains of what was likely a megalodon shark, a giant ocean predator that went extinct about 3.6 million years ago, experts say.

“You never know what you will find on the beach when you go beach combing,” Cape Lookout officials wrote in a July 27 Facebook post.

“On Sunday, July 23rd, a mother and son found this massive shark tooth on the beach during a beach combing excursion. ... If this is just one of its teeth, can you imagine how large the living animal was?”

The tooth was found on the South Core Banks, not far from the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, officials said.

Tourist expeditions to find megalodon teeth have become a cottage industry in eastern North Carolina, which was once the bed of an ancient ocean. But the teeth are rarely found on the state’s barrier islands, which have constantly shifted as coastal currents changed over the centuries.

The tooth found July 23 is only the second found in six years at Cape Lookout, officials told McClatchy News.

It’s possible the tooth washed out of the ocean, or it may have been buried and reappeared due to erosion, officials said.

Megalodons averaged 6 feet in height and about 50 feet in length, making them “one of the largest carnivores, if not superpredators, that have ever lived on Earth,” according to a 2019 fossil study.

It’s believed their jaw span was around 11 feet wide, allowing them to eat whales “and probably other sharks,” according to the Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom.

Ancient shark teeth are considered historical artifacts and must be turned over to the National Park Service if found at Cape Lookout or Cape Hatteras national seashores, officials said. If park visitors find unusual objects in the sand, they are asked to call 252-838-8950 and consult park staff.

This story was originally published July 28, 2023 at 10:15 AM with the headline "Tourists uncover massive tooth of prehistoric shark at Cape Lookout, NC park says."