Sharks The Animal Answer Guide

Human Problems (from a shark’s viewpoint) 199

What other parts of sharks are used by humans?

Shark skin (as leather), shark teeth (jewelry, weapons, and tattooing
tools), sawfish saws (fashioned into battle weapons), and stingray barbs
(knives) are just some of the parts of sharks that have been used over the
centuries. There have also been some more unusual uses. Alaskan Inu-
its have used the lower jaws (dental bands) of somniosid sleeper sharks as
knives for cutting hair, and various cultures have used shark oil barometers.
In Bermuda, shark livers were boiled to render the oil, which was then
placed in a clear bottle. When an approaching storm caused the barometric
pressure to drop, the shark liver oil would change from a clear golden color
to milky white. Cockfighting is popular in some Asian and Latin American

A stingray leather coin purse. The

brighter, oblong area in the center

is said to come from the base of the

ray’s barb. Stingray leather is exceed-

ingly durable. Such coin purses and

wallets sell for $ 50 to $ 80. Photo by

Gene Helfman

Shark teeth are sold individually to

tourists in curio shops around the

world. A single tooth in a small plas-

tic bag, sometimes with the species

identified but often not, usually sells

for a couple of dollars. Here, a shark

fisherman in Thoothoor, India, loads

shark teeth into a burlap bag for later

sale. Needless to say, the fisherman

receives much less than a dollar a

tooth. Photo courtesy of Jeff Rotman, www

.jeffrotman.com