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9-year-old finds rare, prehistoric megalodon tooth the size of her hand in Maryland waters

'I'm looking for a meg!' Molly declared on her way to the bay. Then miraculously, she found one.

Photos courtesy of Alicia Sampson

Molly Sampson found a 5-inch megalodon tooth on Christmas morning.

Nine-year-old Molly Sampson has been searching for teeth in the water since before she could walk. In her young life, she's found more than 400 shark teeth, some so tiny it takes a magnifying glass to identify them, and the largest measuring an inch or two—until now.

Molly's father, Bruce, grew up on the bay in Calvert County, Maryland, and has been hunting fossils at Scientists Cliffs since he was a small child. Bruce has dreamed for decades of finding a "meg"—a large tooth from a megalodon, a massive prehistoric shark longer than a bus, which scientists estimate could have eaten a killer whale in five bites.

Sometimes our dreams end up coming true through our children—and that's just what happened when the Sampson family went fossil hunting on Christmas Day, 2022.


Molly woke up that morning eager to try out her new insulated chest waders—pretty much the only thing she and her older sister Natalie really wanted for Christmas, according to their mother—so she could go search for shark teeth in the bay with her dad and sister. It's something the family has done countless times, but something about this outing was different.

fossil hunting, megalodon

Molly, Natalie and Bruce on their way to fossil hunt.

Photo courtesy of Alicia Sampson

"I'm looking for a meg!" Molly declared in the car on their way to the cliffs.

The three of them hit the water in 10-degree wind chills, spreading out to search in their own areas. And within 20 minutes, Molly emerged with a shriek—and a tooth the size of her hand. "Look what I found!" she screamed.

Molly's mom, Alicia, says it's as if she spoke the "meg" into existence that morning.

"In her head, she kept asking herself, 'Am I dreaming?'" Alicia tells Upworthy. "She didn't think it was real. She kept saying she couldn't believe it."

Bruce snapped a photo of Molly and her amazing discovery and sent it to Alicia, who had stayed home to avoid the cold weather. (A choice she says she regretted after seeing the smile on her daughter's face as she held her huge find.)

megalodon tooth maryland

Molly Sampson holding her megalodon tooth on the coast of Maryland.

Photo courtesy of Alicia Sampson

Molly told her mom she had to dive in and get her arms wet to reach the 5-inch tooth, but it was worth it.

It's rare to find such a treasure, even for avid fossil hunters. Megalodon literally means "giant tooth" and fossils that have been found so far have been dated from approximately 23 million to 2.6 million years ago.

Stephen Godfrey, curator of paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum, told CBS News that the tooth was from the left side of a megalodon's upper jaw and that the creature with this tooth would have been between 45 and 50 feet long—about the length of a humpback whale.

Calvert Marine Museum shared on Facebook that Molly had brought her tooth to the museum's paleontology department, but she gets to keep it in her own collection at home.

shark teeth, megalodon

The family's finds from Christmas Day, including the megalodon tooth.

Photo courtesy of Alicia Sampson

"My husband is going to build a shadow box for her so she can display it safely," says Alicia. "I am sure she will always keep this tooth. To her—and to us—it is priceless. The joy and excitement it has brought her could never be bought."

Molly has said she'd like to dig for fossils when she grows up, and she's certainly getting a strong head start in that department. She and Natalie have even started their own "Fossil Girls" Instagram page to share their love of fossil hunting.

Congratulations, kiddo, on your incredible find. Happy hunting, Sampson family!

There comes a time in all of our lives when we must admit the tragic truth: Sharknados are not real.

Sharks rain from the sky like teardrops from my eyes. GIF from "Sharknado 2."


Neither are Sharktopuses or Mega Shark and Mecha Shark or any other such fantastical creatures of SyFy Original Movie fame — except for two-headed sharks (which could arguably occur as natural mutations) and avalanche sharks (which, with climate change, you never know).

It's OK. It can be difficult accept the harrowing reality of our CGI-monster-less lives.

But dry your eyes, brave soldier! For hope has risen like a phoenix from the fiery depths of the South Pacific....

GIF from "Sharknado 2."

Scientists recently discovered a certain sharp-toothed surprise while exploring an active underwater volcano.

That's right. Underwater volcano.

Oceanographer (and National Geographic Society/Waitts Grant recipient) Brennan Phillips led an expedition into the South Pacific to learn more about Kavachi, a submarine volcano near the Solomon Islands that was actively spewing as recently as 2014.

Phillips and his team knew that the summit was somewhere around 100 feet below sea level and that it was capable of shooting plumes of magma nearly a quarter-mile into the air, forming temporary islands on the ocean's surface.

But no one had ever explored Kavachi up close before. They wanted to learn more.

A submarine volcano erupting. GIF via Smithsonian Ocean Portal.

Unfortunately, it's hard to study underwater volcanos. 'Cause, ya know. Underwater. And also volcano.

They sent underwater cameras to look inside the crater and discovered that Kavachi wasn't the only thing that was active.

There were vol-crab-nos...

GIF via National Geographic/YouTube.

...and lava-rays...

They were calling it a "sixgill stingray." But we all know the truth. GIF via National Geographic/YouTube.

And f---ing SHARK-CANOS!

THE RARE MAGMATIC HAMMERHEAD. GIF via National Geographic/YouTube.

That's right, I said shark-canos. As in plural, baby.

This one's called a "silky shark," and frankly, I don't blame him for hanging out in a submarine volcano because shark-cano is waaaaaaaaaay more badass than "silky shark." GIF via National Geographic/YouTube.

Yes, these hyper-evolved geo-aquatic mutant hybrids are real. But that's ... about the only thing we know about them.

"These large animals are living in what you have to assume is much hotter and much more acidic water, and they’re just hanging out,” Phillips said. "What sort of changes have they undergone? Are there only certain animals that can withstand it? [...] Do they get an early warning and escape the caldera before it gets explosive, or do they get trapped and perish in steam and lava?

While we have yet to witness any shark-canos riding like rockets out of the ocean on geysers made of molten rock, we have discovered their one major weakness:

It's us.

Shark attacks against humans are incredibly rarewe're talking maybe 30 a year, 40 tops. You've got about a 1 in 11.5 million chance of experiencing your very own "Jaws" encounter.

That's not at all. There has not been a single record instance of a shark-cano attack in the entirety of human history. This is likely due to the fact that it's hard for living people to make it 200 feet underwater into the belly of a volcano, but still.

For the most part, sharks are all like:

GIF from "Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show."

and then us humans are all like:

GIF from "Snakes on a Plane," which isn't technically a SyFy Original Movie, but still counts in terms of absurd animal-based B-movies.

Humans kill more than 100 million sharks every year. It's gotten to the point where 1 in 4 shark species are endangered.

If the tables were turned, you'd be hiding in a volcano too.

There's a much better chance of survival down there, which when you think about it, is really saying something.

To enjoy these magnificent creatures in all their glory, check out National Geographic's full video of the real-life shark-cano discovery: