A new study has found that ocean acidification could leave the apex predators without their critical survival weapon.
The rapid increase of acidifying oceans is damaging shark teeth, a major development that threatens their ability to hunt and could entirely disrupt the marine food web.
Ocean acidification is mainly a process where the absorption of large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere causes a chain reaction that lowers pH levels.
The studies suggest that this could lead to oceans becoming more acidic by the year 2020 falling from a current average pH level of about 8.1 to 7.3.
Researchers have warned that this change could have profound implications for all marine life.
To test the effects of acidification, researchers conducted an experiment on 60 freshly fallen shark teeth in artificial seawater tanks. They matched the current ocean average pH of 8.1 with another tank that had a projected pH of 7.3.
The results were shown after eight weeks, the teeth in the more acidic tank suffered about twice as much damage.
The study highlights that dental stress caused by ocean identification is another significant problem for sharks, which include other issues like prey shortages from overfishing.
Meanwhile, the authors note that acidic water also damages the shark’s dermal denticles.
Lisa Whitenack, a professor at Pennsylvania's Allegheny College who is a shark tooth expert, said that the new research added to initial findings on shark teeth and acidification.
She further explained, “It will be interesting to see in future studies if the damage to teeth seen in studies like this one result in a functional effect on a tooth’s ability to do its job and if damaged teeth can still cut or puncture prey.”