Florida diver finds giant megalodon tooth in Venice

VENICE, Fla. (WFLA) — A diver recently found a giant megalodon tooth while diving for shark teeth in Venice.

Charter captain and diver Michael Nastasio narrated SNN that he has been searching for shark teeth in Venice since 2011.

Nastasio said his dive didn’t start well.

“I swam for probably 30 minutes before I found footage that looked good,” he told the news channel.

Little did he know that his dive would lead to a tremendous discovery.

“I did two kicks and the tooth looked straight at me,” Nastasio said. “I was just blown away.”

The megalodon tooth was 6 inches long. It is extremely unusual to find a tooth of this size in Venice.

Accordingly, the megalodon is the largest shark that has ever lived in the ocean Smithsonian Institution. The shark lived about 23 to 3.6 million years ago.

Scientists have discovered breeding sites for megalodons in Florida, Panama, Maryland and the Canary Islands, according to the Smithsonian Institution.