A FAMILY of keen fossil hunters was delighted following a big catch that saw them bag a prehistoric relic.
Sophie Freestone, of Walton, regularly goes down to the Naze cliffs looking for shark teeth and other animal bits.
On a recent hunt with her nieces Cyndney Root, 12, and Florence Murphy, 10, the group ended up finding a massive megalodon tooth.
Sophie said: “We went looking for teeth and other bits as we’re always on the hunt for them.
“It was actually Cydney who ended up spotting the meg tooth, she found it just in front of a cliff.
“Obviously we were really happy and excited when we found it, it’s absolutely massive and will make a great addition to her collection.”
The group found a few more shark teeth but the meg tooth was definitely the biggest catch of the bunch.
READ MORE >> Young fossil hunters find prehistoric Megalodon tooth
Sophie says the hobby has been passed down through her family’s generations.
She added: “We’re always finding stuff like shark teeth on the Naze cliffs, we’ve got jars full of them as it’s our little hobby but this is the biggest one we’ve found.
“I’ve been doing this ever since I was little and it’s the same with my nieces now, it’s a family thing.
“To be honest we’ve found hundreds of teeth and other bits over the years.”
As it was Cydney’s keen eyes that spotted the meg tooth she gets to keep it and intends on putting it in a glass frame to preserve it.
Although rare, large and fossilised teeth have been found on other occasions in and around Walton’s Naze.
The tooth belonged to the extinct 18-metre mega-shark Megalodon, which lived more than three million years ago and would have been around three times larger than the modern-day Great White shark.
It had the biggest bite of any creature known to date and would have consumed on average 2,500 lbs of food per day.
The Essex Wildlife Trust runs several events for families to hunt fossils in Walton where attendees can learn about the Naze’s geology whilst going hunting.
For more information on these hunts contact learnnaz@essexwt.org.uk.
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