The Toms Teeth Facebook page is place to post and learn about your fossil and shark tooth finds from North Carolina and around the world. In honor of Shark Week, Tom of Toms Teeth: Topsail Island Fossil Education tells us how Toms Teeth got started and why loves what he does. Tom also gives insight on the best places to find sharks teeth and fossils!
Where are the best spots to find sharks teeth and fossils locally?
There are a number of places to find fossils and teeth in our area. The most notable and accessible are Topsail Island and Carolina Beach/Kure Beach. Most other local beaches can be hit or miss, but for the most part these beaches are the ones that the fossil hounds stick to.
How did Tom’s Teeth get started?
I have always collected teeth and fossils, and when I would happen upon tourists with a pile of fossils they just found, we would talk about them and I would help them identify them. After doing this a number of times, someone suggested I start a website, so I did. Then I started a Facebook page. It was a little local fossil-nerd page for a while, and then I started doing some giveaways with some teeth I had found as a fun idea. Well, those posts got a lot of attention and, in turn, more followers. The Facebook page now has more than 5,000 followers, and I would say over the last few years the posts and comments have reached about a million people. We have a great group of folks who love helping identify things that otherwise would have just been thrown in someone’s shark-tooth bowl.
Why do you do this?
One thing I would like the public to know is that I have always managed this page and helped people identify teeth absolutely for free. I don’t get paid for ads or really promote anyone specific unless I want to, and even then I try to be subtle about it. I do all this because it’s so much fun for me.
What should people do with their beach finds?
Share pictures on our page! I love to see all the things people find on the beach, and sharing them on the page shares the joy I have with other people. I also hope that someday the page will help with research on what things have been found over the years as we build this “page catalogue” of finds. We have so many visitors who find amazing things. We don’t want them to just take their finds back home to wherever they are from and throw the fossil or tooth in a drawer or on a display table. The page allows everyone to share in the cool finds and helps people connect with other fossil nerds, and I love being a part of that.
Follow Toms Teeth – Topsail Island Fossil Education at facebook.com/tomsteeth/
