Something is lurking in the water near Caspersen's Beach. You may not see it at first, its just beneath the surface. No, not sharks, but shark teeth! My photojournalist Jason Sill and I took a daytrip to the Venice beaches to check out the "Shark's Tooth Capital of the World."

We quickly learned how many shark teeth are out there. Garrett Wallen and his family have been coming to Venice from Michigan for years. He told us "I have a big box full of them because ever since I was a baby i've been finding them." He says shark tooth hunting is pretty easy. "You feel them on your feet, what kind of material is down there, or you see it in the shallows. You scoop right there, sift it in the water, and then throw it up on the beach and look for it."

"Once you see your first shark tooth that's it, they all pop out and you'll be able to see them," says Tony Perez of Fossils Online. He has made a business out of the fossil shark teeth found at the beaches in Venice. He has several large teeth, some he found, some he bought from other hunters. He even showed us a few large teeth more than five inches in length. "You can just imagine the shark that had that guy," Perez said. "A 50 foot shark probably. The jaw you could probably walk through its so big.

Centuries of erosion of the Venice beaches exposed the teeth for anyone to pick up. But Perez says beach renourisment projects are changing the shark tooth hunting ground. He tells us "They pump in new sand and that sand doesn't have as many shark teeth as what was naturally there."

But Perez did say the beaches south of the pier, specifically Caspersen's Beach, are still great for finding shark teeth. He just hopes that the idea of renourishing the beaches doesn't jeopardize Venice's claim to fame. He said "In my opinion you're taking away what made Venice so charming; the shark's teeth."

As Jason and I found out, plenty of people are still coming to the beach to look for shark teeth. Some dive in the shallow water and look at the bottom. Others wade out a few feet and then scoop the sand with what Perez referred to as a "florida Snow Shovel." He says you can pick these tools up at a variety of stores in the area.

Even though people have been hunting for shark teeth for decades on these beaches and some, like Perez have pounds and pounds of teeth, it doesn't look like the teeth will run out anytime soon.

Wallen says he has a large box at home full of shark teeth he's found over the years. Ruth Grosshans of Bradenton came down with her son to look. She's looked for the teeth for years. She says "We used to make mirrors and things like that. Now we just put them in a sack and save them for somebody else."

You could make one trip to Caspersen's Beach and make the discovery of a lifetime, like the giant teeth Perez has in his collection. But the opposite is also true. You could search a lifetime like Grosshans, and never find the big one.

But you should be able to find enough if you just make a daytrip to the "Shark's Tooth Capital of the World."

To capitalize on the shark tooth fame, Venice also hosts the annual Shark's Tooth Festival.

This year is the 16th edition of the festival and it's at the Airport Festival Grounds on Airport Ave.

When:
April 11, 2008 4 pm to 9 pm
April 12, 2008 10 am to 9 pm
April 13, 2008 10 am to 5 pm

Over the weekend, you'll find food, music, and of course, shark's teeth.

HAPPY HUNTING!