VENICE, Fla. (WFLA) — A diver recently found a massive megalodon tooth while diving for shark teeth in Venice.
Charter Captain and diver Michael Nastasio told SNN that he has been hunting for shark teeth in Venice since 2011.
Nastasio said his dive didn’t start well.
“I swam for probably 30 minutes before I found any material that looked good,” he told the news station.
Little did he know, his dive would lead to a massive discovery.
‘I made like two kicks and the tooth was looking straight at me,” Nastasio said. “My mind was just blown.”
The megalodon tooth was 6 inches long. It is extremely uncommon to find a tooth of that size in Venice.
The megalodon is the largest shark to have ever lived in the world’s ocean, according to the Smithsonian Institution. The shark lived roughly 23 to 3.6 million years ago.
The Smithsonian Institution said scientists have discovered megalodon nursery habitats in Florida, Panama, Maryland, and the Canary Islands.