Researchers Take a Look Into Shark Bite

A groundbreaking research is conducted by a team of international scientists who are working on providing better medical treatment methods for victims of shark bites.

Researchers from the Nova Southeaster University (NSU) along with St. Mary's Medical Center plan to carry a unique scientific study on the bacteria present inside the mouth of sharks, a first study of its kind.

For this study, the scientists will be collecting data from sharks captured during the 72 hour South Florida fishing tournament 'The Blacktip challenge'. This tournament that is in its fifth year, runs from Jan.30 to Feb. 3. According to Sun Sentiel, this tournament is a catch and release activity in which the sharks are tagged for scientists.

"We are excited to gather scientific data from these incredible animals in order to learn more about the infecting bacteria from their bites and how to treat victims," Nathan Unger, Pharm.D., an assistant professor at NSU's College of Pharmacy and the lead researcher on this project said in a press statement.

Since Florida has consistently had the highest number of shark attacks worldwide, in the last decade and The Sunshine State had 25 percent of approximate 100 incidents of shark bites a year, the researchers feel their finding will help the ocean goers who share the beaches and waterways with sharks.

According to Dr. Robert Borrego, medical director of the St. Mary's trauma center in West Palm Beach, the main aim of the study is to check the kind of bacteria present so that the correct antibiotic can be used to treat shark attack k victims in future. It would be more interesting to see if different species of shark host different species of bacteria, reports Sun sentinel.