Tag: Teeth

Dentally challenged great white shark greets divers

Great white sharks often shed teeth while attacking prey or biting other objects, but replacement teeth quickly fill voids.

Great white sharks often shed teeth while attacking prey or biting other objects, but replacement teeth quickly fill voids. The apex predators, in fact, might grow as many as 20,000 teeth in a lifetime.

So after a cage-diving company photographed a white shark missing many of its front teeth during an expedition to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island earlier this week, owner Martin Graf featured the image on Instagram, writing:

“Anyone know a good dentist? It’s a good thing that white sharks can replace their teeth.”

Graf, who runs the San Diego-based Shark Diver ecotour company, told FTW Outdoors that the juvenile white shark was going after a hang bait placed behind the boat on Sunday.

Hang baits attract sharks so divers in cages can observe and photograph the predators at close proximity.

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Watch as Yellowstone wolf bites grizzly bear on the butt

“It’s pretty unusual for a shark to have that many missing teeth,” Graf acknowledged, adding that he did not know at what point or how this shark lost so many of its teeth.

Graf added: “Sometimes they lose their teeth when they bite into a big prey, especially if they hit a bone in their prey animal.”

Guadalupe Island,  165 miles west of the Baja California port of Ensenada, is one of the world’s premier destinations for cage diving with great white sharks.

The season typically runs from late July into early November. Many sharks possess unique markings and are documented in a photo-ID catalog.

Graf, however, said there was too much activity to single out this shark for a possible identification. “We don’t know from this picture what shark it was” he said. “We saw 30 different sharks on this trip and they were all super active.”

–Image courtesy of Shark Diver

Mixed reactions as fish with human-like teeth is caught on pier

A fishing report from Jennette’s Pier in North Carolina on Tuesday included a photo of a “toothy” sheepshead that is making quite a splash on social media.

A fishing report from Jennette’s Pier in North Carolina on Tuesday included a photo of a “toothy” sheepshead that’s making quite a splash on social media.

That’s because a frontal view of the 9-pound sheepshead, caught by Nathan Martin, revealed a set of chompers that bear a strong resemblance to human teeth.

This is not out of the ordinary. Sheepshead, found in coastal waters throughout the western Atlantic, are known partially for the shape of their stubby front teeth.

RELATED: Freediver spears world-record halibut in frigid Alaskan waters

But such imagery is nonetheless eye-catching, especially to those not used to catching or viewing sheepshead.

https://www.facebook.com/jennettespierobx/posts/4382170108508156

Naturally, attempts at humor filled the comments section beneath one of the Jennette’s Pier Facebook posts.

“Better teeth than most of the fishermen trying to catch them,” one person remarked.

“This freaks me out,” reads another comment.

Another described the sight as “terrifying.”

But serious fishermen chimed in regarding the quality of Martin’s catch. “Baked sheepshead can’t be beaten,” stated one connoisseur.

One person explained that sheepshead “use those teeth to dine on barnacles on pilings” and added, “These fish are excellent eating.”

Sheepshead, which can measure about 30 inches, also feed on small crabs, clams, oysters, and clams.

Martin could not be reached for comment but Lynn Fox, a local who weighed the sheepshead for Martin, commented that Martin and his twin brother are regular anglers “and they always slay the fish.”

Fox said Martin caught the fish using a sand flea as bait.