American Life
Unsere Kolumnistin vertreibt sich die Zeit am Strand sehr gerne mit der Suche nach Haifischzähnen – nur die versteinerten Exemplare, versteht sich.
Ginger Kuenzel about life in small-town America
The beaches around Venice along the southwest coast of Florida are a treasure trove of shark teeth. When I tell this to friends up north, they’re horrified, imagining that the waters are full of these dangerous creatures and that I’m risking my life every time I go swimming. However, that’s not the case. These teeth are from sharks that lived here hundreds of thousands — or even millions — of years ago.
The fossilized teeth are usually black, gray, or brown, whereas the teeth of present-day sharks are white. I never find any white teeth — apparently, because other sea creatures eat them for their calcium content before the teeth ever wash up on the beach. At least that’s what I was told by the guy at our local market who collects and sells shark teeth. On the other hand, it could just be that white teeth are harder to spot on the light-colored sand.
When I heard that people hunted for shark teeth, I had no idea how this was done. I’ve noticed a lot of people walking the beach with wire mesh baskets attached to the end of a pole. They wade into the water, fill the basket with sand, dump it onto the beach, and sift through it, looking for teeth. Well, that’s far too much work for me. I prefer just to walk along the beach and look for teeth that have washed up near the water’s edge. Some days, I find only a few, but I often find as many as 50 during a one-hour walk.
The teeth come in various shapes and sizes. The ones I find are usually quite small, about the size of a fingernail, but I once found a tooth nearly three inches (7.5 cm) long. It’s rare for teeth that big to end up on the beach, although divers frequently find them offshore or in rivers. The teeth are easy to spot on the light sand, not only because of the color contrast, but also because they’re smooth and shiny.
Millions of years ago, Florida was under water. Sharks and other marine creatures were plentiful. The water later receded, leaving skeletons behind.
The teeth are almost the only part of a shark that can become fossilized, which is why we find them today. Sharks shed around 30,000 teeth in a lifetime, replacing those they lose. They fall out pretty easily since the teeth aren’t rooted in bone the way ours are, but in the shark’s gums. Sharks have multiple rows of teeth and can have up to 350 teeth in their mouth at any one time.
Once I became aware of these facts about shark teeth, it was no longer surprising to me that I found so many teeth. But it did lead to a number of realizations. First of all, I’m glad I’m not a shark mama — I’d quickly go broke playing the tooth fairy. Second, just imagine the dental bills! I have enough to do brushing and flossing to avoid cavities in the 32 teeth I have. How would I cope if I had to take care of 30,000 of them? But then again, I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about my teeth, as there would always be more waiting to replace the ones that fall out.