You go on a beach with the plan to enjoy a full day, laying on the warm sand, playing Frisbee, building a sandcastle. But some days are extraordinary and exceptionally different from all the other ordinary days. What if the day you visit the beach turns out to be that kind of a day?
You planned the visit to the beach with the simple intention of having a relaxing day, but then something unique, strange and never-seen-before is discovered by you on the beach. What would your reaction be? And what if that discovery makes a breath-taking revelation to be added in the books of history at the same time poses a threat to humans?
North Carolina coast comprises a long stretch of 300 miles of barrier-island beaches. The beaches are unique in their own way and have a variety of specialties near them. But what people were going to discover on the shores would change the history of the world.
Located in a small town in Oslo County, North Topsail Beach is a hot spot for all the water lovers who like surfing, swimming and sunbathing. But who would have thought that a normal day at the beach could make you witness unique discoveries!
In 2015, Denny had come to the North Topsail Beach to go surfing. He was taking a walk along the warm sand of the beach when his toe hit something in the sand. And that day, Denny became the first of the many people who came across frightening discoveries on the North Topsail Beach.
A lot of times, we come across things that we never even knew existed in this world of ours. You can never know about all the things that this world has, a lot of which are even scary to imagine existed among us, in the same place as us.
We do not have access to every corner of this world, inside the water or outside on the land. And there is a lot that is still hiding from the human eye, a lot that you thought was long gone but is still among us.
When Denny was enjoying his sunbathing and long walk on the shore of the beach, he was not prepared for what he saw. For a very long time, Denny could not understand what had come in his hands, but when he did, he was deeply scarred.
Usually, when we are enjoying our time on the beach, we stumble upon a lot of things in the sand and we do not pay much attention to any of it. But Denny did pay attention this time, and that was going to change a lot of things now.
Denny Bland hit his toe on something very weird in looks, something never seen before. The object seemed very odd and that is why it caught Denny's attention and he could not ignore it. What scary thing could a place as enjoyable as a beach hold?
Bland picked up the object and couldn't understand what it was. He could not really understand the importance and the relevance of it. And if Denny would have known what it was, he would have run away for his life at that very moment.
Bland looked closely and tried to figure out what the object was. At first, it looked like a fragment of driftwood to him, and he thought that was it. But Denny was not satisfied with his conclusion and decided to look further into it.
Denny was unsatisfied with his conclusion of the object being driftwood and he would have actually been mistaken if he would have thought of it as that and not decided to search further. So much was going to unveil because of Denny's discovery.
It seemed as if something very big and frightening was lurking in the water of the North Topsail Beach. And hints were given every now and then by the never-seen-like-before object that people had been discovering at the shore of the beach every now and then.
Denny went home and observed the object very closely, looking at each and every detail. It is then that he became sure that what was in his hand was not driftwood for sure. There were deep divisions that ran from the dull tip till the middle and the end seemed like it was rotten or burnt.
The discovery that was made by Denny was not the first of its kind. Even though nothing like the sort had been seen recently, our ancestors did find similar things and they declared them as dragon tongues. Did that mean that dragons still prevailed among us?
The discovery seemed to be evidence of the scary and monstrous creature that dragons were. So did that mean that these dragons were not far off from the people residing near North Topsail Beach?
The discovery and its case had become so intrinsic now that it was time to involve experts in the matter and give details after studying the discovery. It was a matter of concern now because it involved the safety of the people living around. Lives could be at risk.
Director of the Aurora Fossil Museum, Cynthia Crane was involved in the matter. She confirmed that the discovery was indeed a part of a beast-like creature. It was believed that the creature had gone extinct, but it was not so.
Paleoecologist Dr. Catalina Pimiento reported about the monstrous creature: "Perhaps, something was going on with the productivity and climate that produced that pattern, or with their prey and their competitors that made the species become large." But what was it?
The researchers were now worried because they had no idea that such a creature was still alive among them. It was not just monstrous in size, but also a predator. It could possibly mean that the safety of people was at stake.
The monstrous creature was a shark, but definitely not an ordinary one. "Megalodon was this large, humongous shark that roamed the ancient seaways during the Miocene-Pliocene time—mainly mid-Miocene to Pliocene—which was about 15 million to five million years ago," Cynthia said.
Denny would really have been wrong to think that what he had found was just driftwood when it was actually a fossilized tooth of a megalodon shark, which people thought was prehistoric but maybe they were mistaken.
The size of the shark was enormous, no doubt. The object that was found by Denny was the tooth of the shark. The scientists have a theory that its size grows 10 feet for every inch of its tooth. This meant that the 6-inch tooth that Denny found belonged to a shark that must've been 60-feet long.
The megalodon shark is three times larger than the great white sharks, which are already so big in size. It is scary to even imagine something so big in size has been a part of the ocean, and can even be a threat to humans if it is still alive.
After Denny found the tooth of the shark, he was ecstatic. "I couldn't get a million dollars and be any happier," he said. "Even the small shark's tooth just excites the heck out of you... I felt like I was a lottery winner."
A photographer for the Surf City Gazette has claimed that Denny was not the last person to have discovered the Megalodon teeth. According to him, one or two megalodon teeth wash up at the shore every year.
Many people like collecting rare discoveries that are made around the world. To collect such rare things and keep them as souvenirs forever is a hobby for a lot of people. And there is one person who likes collecting megalodon teeth specifically.
Residing in West Virginia, Greg Smith is a former community relations director at the famous Camden Clark Medical Center. In the present, Smith works as a firearm salesman. But that was not all about Smith.
Just like Denny, Greg also used to get more than happy if he would come across anything different and unique like the megalodon teeth. But unlike Denny, Smith decided to take his happiness and enthusiasm to another level.
Smith used to get so elated after discovering such unique things like the teeth of the megalodon shark that he decided to do something about them. Eventually, he started collecting the fossilized teeth and he had gone a long way.
"I was trying to think of something that was good for grandpa and grandson," Greg said. And that is when the idea of the megalodon shark and the massive teeth that people had been discovering very frequently on the shores of the beaches.
Smith had been trying to search for something that would be a good activity to carry forward with his grandson. He knew that he wanted something related to research so that his grandson would be able to learn a few new things. And so, the megalodon shark seemed like a good option.
Greg and his grandson started their activity of researching about the shark teeth together. After much study, the grandparent-grandson duo came across a lot of details. There is so much to know about the megalodon, that it looks like the information is never-ending.
Smith knew that the research on megalodon would entice his grandson and he would gain some unique information. Smith himself had quite a bit of knowledge about the shark since he had been collecting fossilized teeth of the megalodon for quite a time now.
Smith told about his grandsons reaction saying, "He said, 'Grandpa, it's a huge shark with a mouth as big as a garage!'" He knew that the shark had gained his grandson's interest and nothing else could have been a better option than the megalodon.
After the research ended, Smith decided upon gifting his grandson a giant tooth of the megalodon shark from his own collection, and needless to say the kid loved it. Smith thought that after knowing so much about the shark, the kid would now know its value and would take care of it.
Smith's enthusiasm to collect the fossilized teeth reached an altogether different level and he did not stop after collecting just a few. In fact, as of 2018, the man had more than one thousand megalodon teeth in his collection!
Even though a lot of experts have commented that the Megalodon is extinct and never made it out of the Pliocene era, some people still believe that it might be false. But for sure, even the biggest fan of megalodon would be relieved and would silently pray that the shark must be gone for good.
It is hard to believe and imagine that something as huge as a megalodon shark was a part of this world that we live in. How could one live in peace knowing the fact that such a huge creature was alive under the water among the people.
If the megalodon is gone forever, or if it still lives under the water among us is something we will never be sure of. Things like these just give us an answer by chance and there is no certainty as to what the actual fact remains.
Denny, Smith and other people like them have been really lucky to have found the teeth of one of the most magnificent creatures of this earth. And who knows what the next moment may have in store? The world has its own way of surprising us every now and then.