BRIDGEWATER, MASS. (WHDH) - A 12-year-old Bridgewater girl with a passion for science stumbled upon a rare find while walking along the Plymouth shoreline.
Orla Murphey found a 4-centimeter shark tooth belonging to a 14-foot great white shark buried in the sand on Priscilla Beach last week. The preteen said she did not think much of her first scientific discovery, that is until her science teacher passed it along to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy for testing.
As it happens, the tooth is believed to belong to the massive shark that was spotted feeding off a dead whale carcass off the coast of Duxbury earlier this month.
Researchers studying the tooth said it may belong to the same shark and is planning to run DNA tests on the find out the truth.
Orla said she is surprised by all the attention her newest discovery is getting.
“I just thought it was a shark tooth,” she said. “I didn’t think it was like special or anything.”
Orla said that she never really had an interest in sharks before this.
Now, having seen this process play out, she said she is considering becoming a member of the AWSC’s all girl’s science club.
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