According to the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department, residents have started to dig large holes in the banks of nearby creeks, an issue county officials warn has serious environmental consequences.

Environmental hazards have wreaked havoc on Alachua County creeks for years, but the waterways — for the last few months, at least — now face a new threat.

According to the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department, residents have started to dig large holes in the banks of nearby creeks, an issue county officials warn has serious environmental consequences.

The problem appears to stem from groups, equipped with pickaxes and shovels, who are on the hunt for megalodon teeth, the trophy of shark fossils that can sell upward of $500 a piece.

Chris Bird, director of the county's Environmental Protection Department, says the fossil excavations not only violate the water code ordinance, but further corrupts the already-damaged waterways.

“The urban creeks get it bad enough already,” he said. “They’re pretty beat up.”

Nicole Llinas, executive director of the wildlife nonprofit Current Problems, says the deep digging required to excavate the buried fossils disrupts the creek banks' stability.

“It may not seem like it, but there’s a stability in there,” she said. “The bank is held in place by little creatures that depend on that stability."

Llinas added that after the soil is dug up, the loose particles make their way into the water, causing such problems as cloudy water and higher flood risk.

“Banks are good at mitigating stormwater,” she said. “If you have a heavily impacted creek with a destabilized bank, there’s a higher chance for flooding.”

Rattlesnake Creek in Gainesville has undergone the most damage, Bird says, with holes that appear as if a hand grenade detonated underground.

County code prohibits using handheld tools to dig on the creeks or banks. Violators could be issued a $125 fine, with repeat offenders facing up to $15,000 in fees.

The creeks also pose health risks for those who wade in their waters. Llinas says none of the county's creeks are safe enough for recreational use due to high levels of pollution, including the presence of fecal bacteria.

The crackdown on fossil diggers means disruption for some local businesses.

Hurley J. Hurley, co-owner of the Gainesville fossil business Mudslingers, says hunting for shark teeth is a Gainesville tradition — and one that shouldn’t be discouraged because of a few bad eggs.

“For 38 years of my life, we could dig for teeth all day with no problem,” he said.

Hurley manages Mudslingers along with his friend Jason Hines. The duo has led fossil-hunting tours since 2016. The company was recently asked to stop using shovels for their excursions, and switched to sifters, a tool similar to the devices used for gold panning. The equipment is allowed as long as the sifters do not cause the soil to venture into the water, but fossil hunters risk sifters also being banned should they present the same environmental issues as the shovels.

Hurley said the change alone has caused a big dip in revenue, saying the new tools mean customers can't — literally — cover enough ground.

“It’s cut our business from 50 to 55%,” he said.

Hurley and Hines say Mudslinger tours are not the main culprit for the mammoth holes in the creeks. Trophy hunters from outside counties, they say, are responsible for the deep digs.

“If we see anyone digging in that way, we ask them to leave,” Hines said.

The pair say they take most of their tours to Hogtown Creek and haven’t visited the most threatened places, like Rattlesnake Creek, for a few years.

Hurley said the company is aware that many portions of the creeks run through private property, and only venture to the banks if neighbors grant permission.

He plans to continue business with the new equipment and stricter enforcement, but the future looks grim.

Bird says the county is likely going to put up signs at the creeks’ entry points to alert visitors of the codes.

He encourages citizens to call the Environmental Protection Department, at (352) 264-6800, to report illegal digs.