{"id":105834,"date":"2025-08-30T03:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T03:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/105834\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T03:42:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T03:42:12","slug":"are-sharks-losing-their-deadliest-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/105834\/","title":{"rendered":"Are sharks losing their deadliest weapon?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sharks rely on their razor-sharp teeth \u2013 replaced every few days to ensure maximum killing power \u2013 to survive. But this weapon is under threat, which could spell disaster for one of the ocean\u2019s top predators.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2298\" height=\"1536\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Maximilian-Baum-with-a-blacktip-reef-shark-jaw-.jpg\" alt=\"Maximilian Baum with a blacktip reef shark jaw\" class=\"wp-image-139528\"\/>Maximilian Baum with a blacktip reef shark jaw at the aquarium. Credit: Roman M\u00fcller-B\u00f6hm<\/p>\n<p>The more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/environment\/what-is-carbon\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">carbon dioxide<\/a> humans release into the atmosphere, the more the ocean absorbs. With increased absorption of carbon dioxide, the ocean becomes more acidic, and by 2300 the sea is projected to be ten times more acidic than it currently is. This is likely to be catastrophic for animals such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/insects-invertebrates\/facts-about-coral-reefs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">corals<\/a> and shellfish, but how this acidification might affect top predators isn\u2019t well understood.<\/p>\n<p>A new study, published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/journals\/marine-science\/articles\/10.3389\/fmars.2025.1597592\/full\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Frontiers in Marine Science<\/a>, explores the impact ocean acidification will have on sharks by focussing in on one of their most important survival tools: their teeth.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers collected newly shed teeth from captive blacktip reef sharks. Blacktip reef sharks must swim with their mouths open \u2013 and their teeth exposed \u2013 in order to breathe, and their teeth are therefore extremely vulnerable to the effects of ocean acidification. By placing the collected teeth in acidified seawater, the scientists could observe what might happen to shark teeth in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>The results are not good news for sharks. In more acidic seawater, shark teeth begin to crumble. They develop cracks and holes, and the roots corrode. But what does this mean for the ocean\u2019s top predators?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1239\" height=\"931\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Shark-teeth-acidification.jpg\" alt=\"Shark teeth acidification\" class=\"wp-image-139526\"\/>Figure 5: SEM analyses of osteodentin corrosion at C. melanopterus teeth. (A-D) Representative SEM images of teeth and basal sections incubated at pH 7.3 and pH 8.2, respectively. Credit: Steffen K\u00f6hler<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDamaged teeth may reduce feeding efficiency,\u201d Maximilian Baum, lead author of the study, tells BBC Wildlife. \u201cOver time, this could affect their hunting success, fitness and ecological role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is a possibility that sharks might be able to repair their teeth by remineralising them. While costly, this would increase the sharks\u2019 chances of surviving ocean acidification.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, it is not only acidification that sharks have to contend with.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAcidification adds to many other human-driven stressors like overfishing, pollution and habitat loss,\u201d Maximilian says. \u201cThe speed and scale of change may outpace their ability to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Discover more amazing wildlife stories from around the world<\/p>\n<p>Top image: a great white shark. Credit: Getty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sharks rely on their razor-sharp teeth \u2013 replaced every few days to ensure maximum killing power \u2013 to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-105834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}