‘Avalanche of razor blades.’ Shark’s gaping mouth caught in stark photo off NC coast
A large mako tried to bite a shark researcher’s camera off North Carolina, and the resulting photo is giving people the willies on social media.
The image, taken during a recent OCEARCH expedition, shows the shark with its mouth wide open, revealing row upon row of jagged teeth.
It was captured with a baited underwater camera deployed by Chris Malinowski, director of research and conservation for Colorado-based Ocean First Institute. He estimates the female was 9 to 10 feet in length.
“This shortfin mako shark was an amazing animal to capture on video,” Malinowski told McClatchy News. “They have hundreds of hook-like razor-sharp teeth, with the upper jaw teeth often broader than those of the lower jaw.”
The arrangement and shape of the teeth helps mako in their pursuit of “large bony fishes (like tunas), squids, and other large marine animals, even other sharks,” he says.
Comments on social media have ranged from to awe to fear of what’s mingling with the tourists along North Carolina beaches.
“Like a beautiful avalanche of razor blades,” Samantha Whitcraft wrote.
“That’s a face only two people could love, it’s mother & orthodontist,” Susan Tegan said.
“I’m a diver, an instructor, and I teach spear fishing. That is not beautiful, adorable, anything of the sort,” Ken Barkhuff wrote. “If you’ve ever been charged by a shark (I have), they’re not beautiful with their mouths open coming at you.”
Ths species can grow to 13 feet long in the Atlantic and can swim at 45 mph, experts say.
Mako are a critical part of the marine food chain. However, they’re also notorious for a “fearsome appearance” due to their long, slender teeth being “visible even when the mouth is closed,” experts say.
OCEARCH was set sail off North Carolina this month to find evidence the region may be a mating location for great white sharks. The Ocean First Institute was among the collaborating institutions. The expedition ran March 4 through March 24 and traveled as far north as Onslow Bay off Morehead City.
Ocean First Institute Director Mikki McComb-Kobza told McClatchy News the agency is using its research to debunk “the general idea that all sharks are monsters.” Additional research, education and conservation on mako sharks is critical “because of its global conservation status (IUCN) as endangered,” the institute reports.
“I know she (the mako) does look a bit scary with the teeth and all, but it really is a fascinating animal and its story is much cooler than many people know,” McComb-Kobza said.
“Makos may be more closely related to the largest predatory shark that ever lived, the Megalodon. ... They are the fastest sharks in the ocean and they have a mechanism that super heats their eyes so they can see fast moving prey!”
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 7:59 AM with the headline "‘Avalanche of razor blades.’ Shark’s gaping mouth caught in stark photo off NC coast."