Boy finds rare intact megalodon tooth – in Essex
August 9, 2023A 13-year-old boy from Hemel Hempstead experienced pure delight when he stumbled upon a ten-centimetre-long megalodon tooth during his annual fossil-hunting expedition with his father.
Ben, an enthusiastic fossil enthusiast, also enjoys scouring the Jurassic Coast in search of ancient remnants. He dreams of becoming a paleontologist in the future and considered the massive tooth, estimated to be between 20 million and 3.6 million years old, a valuable addition to his collection.
Ben and his father, Jason, had been exploring the coastline at Walton-on-the-Naze since Friday, July 28, and had covered an impressive distance of 16 miles. At 7am on Sunday, July 30, their efforts paid off when Ben spotted the edge of the tooth protruding from under a rock.
The staff at Essex Wildlife Trust’s nearby Discovery Centre verified that the discovery was indeed a megalodon tooth and described finding intact ones like this as a rare occurrence. While several have been found at The Naze, it is more common to discover fragments of these colossal teeth.
Photo credit: Family photograph
Meg 2: The Trench
One might assume that a certain film production company had purposely placed the fossil tooth, as the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The sequel to the monster-shark film, titled Meg 2: The Trench, was released in the UK on Friday, August 4.
