Researchers Say Sharks Are Losing Their Bite — And It’s a Bigger Problem Than You Think
Sharks have a reputation for crashing their gigantic mouths into boats, ripping away the rudders, and turning the waters red with the blood of humans. As the name of the famous movie Jaws goes, the entire power of the shark lies in its jaws. But wait, the jaw needs to have both the teeth and the gums to access its full power. A shark without its signature triangular teeth would be no shark at all. In a new study published in Frontiers in Marine Science, researchers reported that sharks are losing their teeth. The culprit is "ocean acidification," something similar to what happens to your teeth after you gulp down three cans of sugary soda.
The research was initiated by biologist Maximilian Baum, who hails from Germany’s Heinrich Heine University, located in Düsseldorf. Together with his team members, he collected 600 shark teeth from blacktip reef sharks in the Sealife Oberhausen aquarium in Germany. Like a skillful dentist, he examined the teeth in elaborate detail to investigate their health and whether or not they were affected by the increasing acidity of the ocean.
So what is ocean acidification? When the atmosphere of the planet becomes concentrated with excess amounts of carbon dioxide, the bubbles and particles of this gas swirl around and are absorbed by the ocean. Winds and hungry organisms swimming inside the ocean accelerate this absorption of carbon dioxide. Such enormous quantities of carbon dioxide sitting inside the ocean gradually cause the ocean to become acidic.
These acidic conditions start deteriorating the health of the creatures and animals gliding around in the water. Scientists measure the intensity of this acidification using a measurement called pH. The lower the pH, the higher the acidification. Baum projected that the typical pH of oceans on Earth could dwindle from somewhere around 8 to somewhere around 7.3 by 2300, which means the ocean life would perish in this suffocating acidic slew.
In this research, the focus fell on blacktip sharks in particular. Since teeth are the hallmarks of a shark, acidification could significantly affect shark behavior on the planet, “potentially affecting shark populations and marine ecosystem stability.” With their inability to properly chew a fish, they would find it challenging to feed their bellies, ultimately living a life of suffering.
Baum and his team collected 600 freshly fallen shark teeth in artificial seawater tanks. To simulate the projected oceanic conditions, one tank was filled with water of pH 8.2, while the other had a pH of 7.3. After sitting for eight weeks in the tanks, the teeth were taken out and thoroughly investigated. Results showed that the teeth in the acidic tank had about twice as much damage as compared to those with “increased root corrosion and altered serration,” Baum described.
The experiment yielded several interesting insights. One, will the teeth damaged by acidification still be able to cut or puncture their prey, as Lisa Whitenack pointed out in a conversation with The Guardian? Whitenack, who’s also a shark tooth expert, wondered whether acidification could affect the functional effect on the tooth’s ability to do its job. As for now, no one knows the answer to this for sure. But if Baum’s projections about oceans materialize into reality in the future, it calls for a crucial initiative for protecting the deep-ocean creatures.
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