Shark Tooth Fairy does it again: Kids amazed at treasure hunt in Port Royal
It was a beautiful Saturday for a treasure hunt at The Sands in Port Royal as throngs of hopeful hunters turned out for the latest “Shark Tooth & Fossil Treasure Hunt” coordinated by local diver Mike Harris, aka The Shark Tooth Fairy.
By our count, this is about the seventh time that Port Royal resident Mike Harris has been burying and scattering hundreds of shark teeth and other artifacts he’s collected around The Sands so children can discover them.
Do they love it? Yes, indeed they do. It was evident by the hundreds of anxious children criss-crossing the Sands Beach, some with shovels, some with buckets and some using their bare hands to scoop a bit of sand to see what they could find. Reports estimated that nearly 1,500 stopped by to join in the fun and look for over 1,000 pounds of fossilized goodies placed by Harris. Today’s event also came equipped with a toddlers area for children 4 and under, so that the little kids could find a prize a bit easier (and safer) without having the bigger kids running around.
Combing our local beaches and looking for these treasures in your own time could literally take a lifetime to find one, but on Saturday Harris, an avid fossil and shark tooth collector from scuba dives, hid approximately 1,000 pounds of assorted fossils including megalodon teeth, whale jaw bones, and whale vertebrae all for our local kids.
“When I was a kid I used to ride my bike to the Sands and pick up shark teeth for fun. Now I can help children discover them just as I did when I was a child, and maybe we will be able to teach them a love and a respect for our natural world while we’re at it.”
Thanks for what you do for area kids, Mike.
Look for the next treasure hunt over the summer.
Fun photos by ESPB photographer Kaleigh Small. See nearly 100 more photos of the event in our Photo Gallery.