Badges, Gators and Shark Teeth

It’s not all theme park rides around here. Bode knocked out 2 Junior Ranger badges at Big Cypress and Everglades National Parks. Luckily, these alligators seemed uninterested in the kid leisurely filling out his workbook on the boardwalk.

We also hit Shark Tooth beach in Venice.

We heard a few different theories on why this area has so many fossilized sharks teeth. But, the one that makes the most since is that ten million years ago, when Florida was submerged under water, the area was teeming with sharks. Over time, as the water receded giving way to land, the prehistoric sharks died – their skeletons disintegrated, but their fossilized teeth remained. The Venice coastal area sits on top of a fossil layer that runs 18-35 feet deep. With storms and waves, the fossils are slowly driven into the shallow waters and then up onto the beach. You can dig them up with a kitchen colander.

We got to meet up and have an epic night with an old friend of mine from school years. And then, we headed back to Orlando because the Butter Beer was calling.