Did you know prehistoric sharks once swam Northland waters and crocodiles roamed our region? These are just two surprising facts revealed in “Fishing for Fossils,” a special month-long exhibit opening Saturday, Aug. 7, at the Great Lakes Aquarium. It will run through Labor Day Weekend.

The exhibit features numerous fossils of ancient fish and creatures that once inhabited what is now the Great Lakes Basin. Some fossil artifacts are part of the Aquarium’s in-house collection, and others are on loan from outside sources, including Hill Annex Mine State Park in Calumet, Minn.

Hill Annex Mine State Park is rich with fossils, dating back to before the glaciers. The iron ore deposit that spans the Iron Range is the shoreline of a vast, ancient inland sea. It is riddled with fossil deposits from prehistoric times, including teeth from sharks and crocodiles, plus evidence of ancient invertebrates. Fossil finds in other areas covered by this ancient sea include the remains of plesiosaurs and other giant aquatic reptiles from the age of dinosaurs.