Off the coast of NSW, behemoth sharks are hauled up alongside boats for a teeth “clean” and researchers say the dental check could help save bite victims. 

The sharks are captured along 21 NSW government-installed drum lines, running from the state’s far north to the south coast for research and beach protection.

When a shark is caught in a line, a signal alerts contractors.

They hastily come out to free the shark after measuring it and using a swab on the end of a stick to collect samples, including a mouth sample while the animal’s head is out of the water.

The swabs collect microbes, which include bacteria and the samples get sent to Federation University at Churchill in Victoria’s east. 

There, marine microbe expert Dr Meagan Dewar has poured over hundreds, trying to figure out what shark bacteria could be resistant to certain antibiotics.

“Sharks are absolutely beautiful animals to work with,” she said. 

“We get all age classes and sizes, from 1.5-metre juveniles to large adults 3 to 4 metres in size.”

In the best-case scenario, Dr Dewar’s research could give health practitioners a database noting what bacteria are resistant to what antibiotics. 

That way, a doctor could swab a shark attack victim’s bite and be sure they are giving them the best treatment to avoid a potentially deadly infection. 

In other cases, doctors could select the best broad-spectrum antibiotic that isn’t showing up resistance in the sharks. 

“We want to look at what microbes are there, what resistance they might have, because that can better inform medical practitioners about what antibiotics actually might be best to prophylactically treat infections,” Dr Dewar said.

“We’re getting some of the typical pathogens that we expected to find … but we’re also getting some really unusual and different bacteria that we we didn’t expect. 

“We are definitely getting some antibiotic resistance coming up with the sharks.” 

Similar research has been done in the US looking at microbes in sharks but none in Australia. 

Microbes can be influenced by where animals live and the Federation University research homes in on the three species seen as most likely to attack humans: great whites, tiger sharks and bull sharks. 

Dr Dewar’s research is also looking at what sharks’ microbes say about their health and whether they are changing alongside the climate and with pollution. 

“Some of the samples have come from the flood zones in northern NSW and so we’re very keen to have a look at those to see if the outflow of the rivers has introduced some pathogens that weren’t there previously,” she said. 

The years-long study is set to finish up midway through 2023, with data solidified later this year. 

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