Shark Tooth Hunting at Fort Clinch

The first time we were going to visit Amelia Island in Florida, someone told me they liked to look for shark teeth there. So when we went, we decided to try it out. We heard Fort Clinch was the place to do it, so we headed over… and basically had no idea what we were looking for! All we knew was that the teeth would actually be black. We picked up shells, and other pieces that made us ask, is this a tooth???? So I finally asked someone who seemed like maybe they were looking too, and she was kind enough to show us what we were looking for and even shared a couple of the teeth she had found with us!

Fast forward about two years, and we’ve moved to this area that captured our hearts! Shark tooth hunting has fast become one of our favorites hobbies! One of our favorite places to look is at Fort Clinch State Park.

Blooming outside the walls of Fort Clinch

Fort Clinch is on the north side of Amelia Island, in the far northeast corner of Florida. You can actually see Georgia’s Cumberland Island across the river. Because of the submarine base in Georgia, the river/ocean is regularly dredged, with the sand from the bottom of the ocean floor being placed on the shores of Amelia Island. The teeth that were laying at the bottom of the ocean are suddenly in view of shark tooth hunters like us!

We’re ready to find some shark teeth with Fort Clinch in the background.

One Sunday morning was a bit rainy, but we headed out to the fort anyway. When we got to the beach on the backside of the fort, we were one of only a few people there! Quite a few of the shark teeth were waiting for us to find them, laying right at the edge of the waves! So what do you look for? Shiny black triangles! Shark tooth hunting is a little bit like looking for the image in the “Magic Eye” pictures from when we were kids in the ’90’s crossed with Where’s Waldo. It seems like some days my eyes can pick them out pretty easily, and some days my eyes just can’t focus on them, even though other people around me are finding them just fine!

At Fort Clinch, we’ve had pretty good luck looking for the teeth as they are washing ashore at the tide line. We’ve also been able to find them walking in the soft sand that is above the water lines. My understanding is that most of that sand has been dumped there from the dredging process mentioned above.

The teeth that we are finding are actually fossils, which is why they’re black (or brown!). The color depends on the minerals that have replaced the original tooth over time. We find lots of other pieces of bone while we scour the beach too. Sometimes we can tell what the pieces are from, and sometimes we can’t. We’ve also found teeth and parts from other creatures too, like horse teeth, alligator teeth, stingray mouth plates and barbs, and turtle shells.

Here are a couple of pictures from our finds that morning.

The ocean is one of the things that drew us to this area. When you go to the ocean, it’s always bringing you something new. Each wave brings some element of consistency, some soothing action that you know will repeat itself, while also bringing an element of change. You never know what might wash up on shore, what treasure might be waiting for you if you look down to see it.

Check out our video on YouTube for some more views of Fort Clinch and to see more of the teeth we found. Subscribe to our channel to see some of our other adventures and to be the first to know when we post a new video!

Have you ever found a shark tooth? What do you look for when you’re at the beach? Seashells? Teeth? Beach glass? A message in a bottle? Leave us a comment to tell us what draws you to the beach!