Love Bites: How Scientists Track Shark Mating

Sharks have a pretty unique way of showing love. Instead of holding hands or going on dates, male sharks bite onto females to stay close while mating!

This might sound a little rough, but it’s a natural process. Scientists will often use these bite marks to figure out when and where sharks are mating—without even seeing them in the act!

In honor of Valentine's Day, let's dive into the deep blue and take a closer look at how sharks show their love.

Shark Wound Detectives

One type of shark, the sand tiger shark, helped scientists create a system to track these love bites over time.

Scientists studied a female shark in an aquarium after she got a deep mating bite. The scientists watched as her wound healed through four stages:

Stage 1: Full-thickness wound : A fresh, deep bite that exposes muscle.

Stage 2: Healing: The wound starts to close up after about two weeks.

Stage 3: Closure: The skin comes together after three to six weeks.

Stage 4: Scar revision: The wound fully heals but leaves a scar, which lasts for 35 weeks or more!

Shark Romance in North Carolina?

Scientists also used this system to study wild sand tiger sharks near shipwrecks in North Carolina!

By looking at digital photos from the Spot A Shark USA database, they found that female sharks had fresh bite wounds in late spring and early summer. That means… North Carolina might be a hot spot for sand tiger shark mating season!

So if you happen to see a shark with scars, it might just be a sign of shark romance in action.

Sea Our Sharks

Looking for more? Check out our story on Rip , the sand tiger shark. In March 2022, Ripley’s Aquariums made history with the birth of Rip, the first successful birth by artificial insemination of a sand tiger shark.

Want to meet some of our fin-credible sharks? Visit Ripley’s Aquarium and get up close with the amazing world of the deep blue!