Venice Boat Captain Finds Rare 6-Inch Megalodon Tooth, A ‘Fossil Hunter’s Dream’

VENICE, FL — A Venice diver and charter boat captain made the discovery of a lifetime when he found a rare 6-inch megalodon shark tooth off the coast of Sarasota County Oct. 14.

Michael Nastasio, owner of Black Gold Fossil Charters, told Patch that finding the massive shark tooth is “every fossil hunter’s dream.”

The megalodon, also known as Carcharocles megalodon, was the largest shark — and one of the largest fish — that has ever lived, according to Britannica.

Fossils from this large-toothed shark have been found dating back to as long as 23 million years ago, from the early Miocene Epoch period, to the end of the Pliocene Epoch period, about 2.58 million years ago.

The epic find was a decade in the making, Nastasio shared on his Facebook page.

“Well, after 10 years of hunting Venice for a whole 6-inch megalodon shark tooth, I did it. I was last one in the water and saw it within the first (five) minutes of my dive,” he wrote. “The tooth measures 6-1/16 (inches). I'm cleaning it now and is definitely going to be a smoker.”

He added, “I'm so happy right now and literally still shaking.”

Though Nastasio wouldn’t share the exact location of his Oct. 14 dive, he said he found the tooth in 30-foot-deep waters.

He was the last one to enter the water during the diving trip. He saw a small blue weight that “looked like a dumbbell” and began joking around, he said. “I was doing curls with it, being silly. Then, I looked over my arm and saw a straight line.”

Nastasio immediately paused when the line caught his eye.

“Straight lines are not natural in nature, and I thought it might be something,” he said. “I realized it was a tooth and I was staring at it completely exposed. The first thing I thought was, ‘I finally did it.’”

Finding teeth of this size is rare, especially in the Sarasota County area, he said. “It’s the moment you always dream of.”

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Venice is a popular place for finding shark teeth and other small fossils. It's referred to as the "Shark Tooth Capital of the World" by some for good reason, he previously told Patch. But it's known for the quality and quantity of the shark teeth found in the area, not their size.

The tooth Nastasio found Oct. 14 was his first exceeding 6 inches, but it’s not the first large megalodon tooth he’s found.

In December, he made headlines when he discovered a tooth measuring just over 5-7/8 inches.

“Even that one was big for our area, but to exceed 6 inches, you’ve done it,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

And since then, he’s found two more teeth larger than 5 inches and a client he took out diving has found one, as well.

While the tooth he found in December is available to purchase at the Shark Frenzy shop in Venice, his latest find “will probably stay with my collection forever,” Nastasio said. “That tooth, to me, it’s priceless. I couldn’t put a price on it even if somebody wanted to buy it.”