One in a million find remarkably happens twice at Narragansett Town Beach

Earlier this summer, Oliver and Sebastian Martinez were spending the day at Narragansett Town Beach with their mom and dad, Lauren and Alex when they stumbled upon a one in a million find. They found a large shark tooth in the sand and contacted the Atlantic Shark Institute to find out what it was, and what species it might be.

It turned out it was a fossilize great white shark tooth that was in excellent condition. It was estimated to be at least 10,000 years old, and perhaps millions of years old, by Dr. Josh Moyer, a collaborator with the ASI. The length of the shark, based on the tooth, was estimated to be approximately 15 feet long.

Surprisingly, Jon Dodd the Executive Director of the ASI was contacted just three weeks ago by a friend who reported that they had also found a large tooth that they wanted to get an opinion on as well. The location? Narragansett Town Beach again.

“To say I was surprised would be an understatement” shared Jon after seeing the latest picture that was sent by South Kingstown resident, Carline Shields. “We’ve never been asked to assess a tooth that size from RI waters, never mind two in matter of months,” he added. “From the same small beach in RI only adds to the intrigue.” Remarkably, it was determined that the new tooth found by Carline was also a fossilized great white tooth. Once again, the assessment by Dr. Moyer and the ASI confirmed the species, with an age range was from 10,000 years to millions of years old. In addition, the size of this shark was estimated to be an impressive 18-20 feet in length.

Carline shared that she was simply taking a morning walk along Narragansett Town Beach when she spotted what turned out to be the tooth. “From a distance I thought it was a rock but when I got closer, I realized it was pretty special” she said. “We’ve known Jon for many years, so he was the logical person to reach out to” she added.

“What’s remarkable to us is that we’ve never gotten a call or heard about teeth of this size and species here in RI, and now we’ve had two in a matter of months. What truly fascinating find these are. We’d love to hear from folks if they have had similar luck, or know of anyone who has,” he concluded.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to find something similar here on RI’s shore, please reach out
to the Atlantic Shark Institute at www.atlanticsharkinstitute.org as they’d love to hear from you.