Giant Shark Tooth Found On Beach

May 21, 2009

Release from: Gazette (UK)

A youngster uncovered a monster find during a day out at the beach – a giant shark tooth.

Harry Triffitt, aged eight, of Bemerton Gardens, Kirby Cross, spotted the inch-and-a-half-long tooth on the beach at the Naze, in Walton.

He said: “It was really exciting.

“I was just walking along when I saw it, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“It’s very special, because you do not find them that often.

“My granddad has been looking for 40 years and he’s really jealous.

“He offered me £1 for it, but I was not going to take it.”

Instead, Harry, a Year 4 pupil at Kirby School, took his find to school to show to his schoolmates.

“They think it’s quite cool,” he said.

His mum, Emma Triffitt, said Harry found the tooth near the family’s beach hut by coastguard hut.

She added: “It looks really fearsome. He has got quite a few little ones, but it is a really large tooth.

“He was over the moon – it’s his pride and joy. His granddad came down later to see it and was very jealous. He’s spent absolutely years trying to find shark’s teeth on the beach, but he never found one that size.”

Lisa Burnett, a shark tooth expert, said if it was a shark tooth, one that size would be rare and worth thousands, but it could equally be a more common prehistoric meg-ladon tooth.