What’s the worst part of a shark’s bite? It’s not just those teeth that are dangerous
Close-ups of a live shark’s teeth are rarely shared on social media by researchers for good reason: Who wants to pry those lips apart?
But the shark research agency OCEARCH recently decided it was time not only to show a close-up, but to take out a ruler.
“In case you were wondering, here’s how long the teeth are on a 10-foot-3-inch long white shark,” the Facebook post says.
The bright white, serrated tooth was an inch long, prompting thousands of reactions on Facebook.
“I hope whoever gets the job of having their hands at the mouth like that gets paid a whole lot extra,” posted John Griffith on Facebook.
That person is University of South Carolina associate professor Kimberly Ritchie, who rushes to collect data from live, large sharks as they are being tagged by OCEARCH. The nonprofit tracks great white sharks to learn where they may mate, give birth and nurse along the East Coast.
Ritchie has been doing this since 2014, and she tells the McClatchy news group that those big teeth aren’t the most disconcerting thing found in a shark’s mouth.
It’s also common to find stuff stuck between their teeth — unidentifiable icky stuff they just killed and ate — not to mention ragged, bloody gums caused by “aggressive feeding,” she said. (Fecal samples frequently have fur attached, she added.)
But that’s not the worst of it. The bacteria in a shark’s mouth is her chief concern, including “marine opportunistic bacteria” akin to the deadly flesh-eating stuff that has grabbed headlines in recent years.
Ritchie’s bacteria samples help inform doctors about what types of infections might result from a shark bite, OCEARCH officials told McClatchy.
However, the work is equally important because sharks are infamous for healing quickly, which means they have “beneficial microbes” that could be useful as anti-bacteria agents for humans, Ritchie said.
“The cool thing about sharks and corals is they are really ancient organisms,” she said. “They are much, much older than humans and have had longer to evolve a beneficial relationship with microbes. They have ancient immune systems.”
To find those microbes, Ritchie swabs the teeth, eyes and wounds, among other sensitive spots. It’s something she has to do in less than 15 minutes, which is how long it takes OCEARCH to safely tag a shark for satellite tracking.
“I don’t worry about being bitten, because there is a pipe in the mouth pumping sea water across the (shark’s) gills so they can get oxygen. That pipe holds the mouth open and they can’t bite through it,” Ritchie said.
“They are fairly motionless, because it’s the first time they have experienced gravity like that. They are vulnerable and helpless.”
There’s at least one other odd thing she has observed about shark mouths that is perhaps unexpected.
Sharks do not have bad breath. In fact, she says their mouths have no smell at all.
