An 11-year-old boy and his father made the find of a lifetime during a Jersey Shore vacation when their search for shells led them to a fossilized tooth from one of the largest sharks to ever live. Bo Bowers and his father, Mike Bowers, discovered the huge megalodon tooth last week wedged in a ro ck jetty along the beach in Sea Isle City. Bo’s hands were small enough to pull the tooth out. “I was like shocked and like excited at the same time,” Bo said. The family, from western Pa., showed the tooth to experts at the New Jersey State Museum and Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center. Both confirmed it came from a megalodon shark. “It’s an amazing sighting. That family’s really lucky,” Daniel Iovino of the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center said. “There’s only a handful of recorded findings of Megalodon teeth off of New Jersey’s coastline,” Iovino said. Megalodons have been extinct for more than 3 million years. The massive sharks were an estimated 50 to 60 feet long and were the largest sharks to have ever lived. Matt Remuzzi of the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center was struck by the condition of the Bowers family’s find. “It is actually the best condition Megalodon tooth I’ve ever seen. It was pretty incredible,” Remuzzi said. Experts speculate the tooth may have been dredged up with sand from the ocean and pumped ashore during a recent beach replenishment project. For Bo and Mike, the discovery came with a mix of shock and excitement. “I was sitting there, my knees were shaking and he’s like Trying to speak but like nothing was coming out,” Mike said. The fossil also had some unexpected heft. “It’s actually a lot heavier than we both thought it would be,” Mike said. The family plans to keep its prehistoric souvenir. “A bucket list item for sure,” Mike said. ...read more read less