Skip the gift shop. Here’s where to find shark teeth along the Grand Strand’s beaches

The easiest way to acquire shark teeth in Myrtle Beach is by stepping into nearly any of its oceanfront gift shops and buying a strand.

But, really, where’s the fun in that? For intrepid fans looking to fill out their underwater dental collections, there are several other ways to acquire those trademark chompers. By the way, don’t expect to find a great white here in the Grand Strand. The most popular species are blacktips, bulls, tigers and spinners.

When is the best time to look for shark teeth?

Weather conditions play a big part in the hunt.

“Shark teeth can be found at all times of the day, but you may have more luck when the high tide is rolling in, as the waves will carry the shark teeth to shore,” VisitMyrtleBeach.com says on its website. They’re also more likley to be found along shell beds as the tide rolls in, because it pulls the sand away to reveal those shiny black mouth blades.

VisitMyrtleBeach.com has a comprehensive tide chart on its website that can assist in the search.

As for location? You’re most likely to pull a tooth around central parts of Myrtle Beach, between 50th Avenue N. to 10th Avenue S., but parts of Murrells Inlet and Pawley’s Island are also candidates.

Are shark teeth worth money?

Though not unprecedented for Grand Strand visitors to have come across a Megalodon biter, don’t count on finding one of those prehistoric teeth for yourself. Unlike human, sharks continually regrow their teeth —new ones emerge almost immediately after an older one falls out.

That makes finding them in bulk relatively easy and cut down on their value. Just check out several current eBay auctions, where up to 100 of them are priced at $11.99.

Ripley Aquariums, which has a large facility in Myrtle Beach, says sharks can lose between 30,000 and 50,000 teeth over the course of their lifespans.

Fossilized teeth or ones belong to rare species can fetch upwards of $250, but Myrtle Beach’s species are all of of the more common variety.

How do I know this is actually a shark tooth?

Look for ridges and gum line near the top. And go ahead, try to break it. If it shatters, you have the wrong creature. A shark’s biter is covered with enamel, similar to humans. As they fossilize and water seeps into them, the teeth can change colors due to chemical reactions with minerals, as the Florida Museum of Natural History explains.