Getting out and about in nature can be a restorative experience, as spiritually refreshing as it is physically demanding. There's just nothing like a good nature walk to get your blood pumping and your mind relaxed, is there?
It's even better when your hike out in the woods bears some fruit, too, as one couple in South Carolina can attest to.
The pair were out for some fresh air and went to a familiar spot they had wanted to explore a bit further earlier but had been prevented by high tides. This time, they were in luck.
Near some muddy river banks, Jessica spotted something gray sticking out of the mud. It turned out to be the discovery of a lifetime — a massive, one-pound megalodon tooth.
All that remains of them are their jaws and teeth — and more often than not, only the teeth are found.
Compared to their ancestors, megalodon teeth tell all the story you need to know about their ability as predators; great white shark teeth don't get any larger than about three inches in length, whereas megalodon teeth have, on rare occasions, been found to be over seven inches long.
But that's still a rarity. Megalodon teeth over 4 inches have been known to fetch four figures on eBay.
"If I never find another shark tooth, I will be just fine," Jessica wrote on Facebook.
The experts at Mace Brown Museum of Natural History at the College of Charleston looked it over and were suitably impressed as well.
"That's a great meg find — finds like that are why Charleston is known as the megalodon capital of the world," they said, as per Jessica's Facebook post. "Well done, we can tell you were excited! As for an age, it's likely weathered out of the Goose Creek Limestone, so Pliocene in age (~3-5 million years old)."
The tooth now has a spot of honor on Jessica and Simon's mantel.
