Cooper River


	*Cooper River Shark Teeth*




		Our Mighty Vessel



This is what you see on the bottom - notice one meg tooth at 10:00



	My take for the day.




	Fearless Captain Tom



		End of the day



Another diver did a little better.


	Don’t forget to pick up the other finds which actually are more prevalent than the shark teeth and just as important to the paleo history of the region. Whales and dolphins flourished along with crocodiles, beavers, and turtles.

Several years ago I happened to see a short special on television (I don’t remember on what.) about these nutcase divers who would go out on some river in South Carolina and dive in alligator infested, dirty, pitch black marsh water looking for fossilized megalodon shark teeth. I thought to myself at the time the guys were crazy. Still, in the back of my mind, I couldn’t cover up the nagging thought that somehow it was kinda a neat idea. While the idea kept nagging me over the years to try it - at least once - there never seemed to be a time to take out a weekend and just go. After all, it was no contest as to whether I should go diving some river bed for a coupla days or spend a week somewhere in the beautifully clear Atlantic or whatever. Well, I finally had the chance to go to the Cooper River for a weekend and couldn’t find any excuse not to - so, I called up Captain Tom and his Cooper River Adventure and set up a trip for three of us.

I had done a little homework as usual, but my mates didn’t bother. (There is a lot of valuable info for the ‘first timer’ on Captain Tom’s website.) So, when we found ourselves sitting on the parking bumpers beside the boat ramp parking lot waiting in the early morning for Captain Tom, they were at least a little dismayed when he finally pulled up towing his custom built aluminum boat. Dismayed because it sure looked a little small for all four of us and our two tank gear. Little did they realize that there would be three other divers joining us as well.

It didn’t take long before Captain Tom had the boat launched and had us all sorted out and situated sorta comfortably in the boat. Then we were off up the river to the gravel beds. The river and tidal flow washes away the river banks and frees up the teeth. Since the teeth are very dense and heavy, they tend to collect in the frequent gravel deposits in sections of the river. The trick seems to be knowing just where those gravel beds are.

We had about a 30 minute ride up river to our first divesite at the ‘Barges’ named for the fact that some old barges are moored there. I should stop here for a moment to mention the fact that this is definitely NOT a dive for the beginner or amateur diver. It is also not for anyone who is even slightly claustrophobic as you are diving in truly ‘black’ water. The dives were consistently 40 feet and you lose ‘ALL’ light at about 15 feet - not even a glow from above. It took my first dive to figure out that the best way to descend is feet first. Even with a very good light shining out ahead of me, I still collided head on with the bottom. The best lights will only shine about a foot in front of you. And I was told we were there on a ‘good’ day. Once you get yourself oriented into the constant current, adjust to a world that’s only one foot deep and one foot wide, stop worrying about the pink catfish running into you and the 14 foot alligator you saw sunning on the mudbank who happens to like the catfish, you stick your face in the gravel and start to look for shark teeth. From the disdainful look on Captain Tom’s face when he saw my camera, I believe I probably have one of the few if not the only pictures of the Cooper River bottom and a shark’s tooth in situ. I might add that this water is so dark, that several times I would bump into another diver without either of being able to see the other’s light before impact. (Still thinking about that 14 foot gator up there - right!) However, at the end of our day it all seemed to be worth the agravation, discomfort, and abject fear to be going home with a sack full of fossil megalodon teeth. At the bottom left is a picture of my four dive, two day trip talley. Not at all impressive, but still a nice set of trophies. There are also many other fossils to look for while you’re there. You will see buckets of other items like rib bones and whale ear bones. I found a fossil crocodile tooth among others as well as my shark teeth. After all is said and done, I have to admit I could kick myself for waiting so long to make this dive, and I definitely plan on making it at least an annual experience.