iStockphoto / Venerala
A Florida man was fossil hunting off the beaches of Venice, Florida in Sarasota County, just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I live, and he found a priceless mammoth tusk while diving in 25-feet of water.
Fossil hunting or fossiling is an extremely popular activity in this part of Florida but almost exclusively with divers or beachgoers looking for sharks teeth. And the best spots aren’t always the ones you’d expect. I’ve found bigger and better sharks teeth 50 miles inland than I’ve ever found on the beach even when Caspersen Beach used to be a sharks teeth mecca before beach restoration buried the fossils under sand years ago.
I’m born and raised in this part of Florida and never in my life have I heard of someone finding an intact mammoth tusk like this until Alex Lundberg’s incredible find in 25 feet of water off Venice. Lundberg’s once-in-a-lifetime find went viral and Ft. Myers meteorologist Matt Devitt shared photos of it days later:
HOW COOL IS THIS?! 4 ft Mastodon tusk recently found while scuba diving off Venice, Florida! What an incredible find and glimpse into how much history our state has still under the water and sand. Credit: Alex Lundberg @WINKNews #Florida pic.twitter.com/9slkEkNtCf
— Matt Devitt (@MattDevittWX) May 20, 2024
It’s unclear specifically how old the mammoth tusk is but Alex Lundberg told Local10 News it’s 500,000 years old at the oldest and 10,000 years old at the youngest. He could opt to have the tusk radio carbon dated at some point to get a clearer idea of how old it is.
Alex Lundberg does possess a fossil hunting permit that is required in many parts of Florida in order “to protect and preserve vertebrate fossils and vertebrate paleontology sites.” After finding the mammoth tusk, he reported the fossil to the Florida Museum of Natural History which is required by the permit but he is allowed to keep the tusk.
For any fellow Floridians out there seeking to learn more about the fossil permit program check this out.
Mammoth tusks regularly sell for tens of thousands of dollars. However, when Local10 News asked Lundberg how much it was worth he deflected saying “I’m not too sure on the price, I’m more of a collector than a buyer/seller.” Hopefully, that fossil stays in Sarasota County where it’s been for hundreds of thousands of years.
For context, here is my haul of sharks tooth fossils from maybe 3 hours on a river 50 miles inland in SW Florida:
Cass Anderson
Like I said before, there are a LOT of sharks teeth inland if you know where to look (Google, check Google for tips).