The Sydney Aquarium in Sydney, Australia employs a diver for their shark tank. This person, namely diver Giles Cordey, has just one job and that’s to clean the shark teeth that accumulate at the bottom of the tank.
Sounds like a pretty interesting job, right? Well, maybe so but the catch is that the sharks are in the tank when he cleans it.
A Dirty Job, Cleaning Shark Teeth
Mr. Cordey goes into the tank to pick up more than 100 individual shark teeth that find their way to the tank floor. They come from nine Grey Nurse and Lemon Sharks that call the tank home. So naturally he got the auspicious nickname of “the tooth fairy.”
When asked how it went, Giles had this to say, “It went well, they’re really nice animals and they’re really quite placid, they actually tend to avoid interaction unless we have food.” All we can say is that we hope he gets paid well.
A Shark Exhibit
The Sea Life Sydney Aquarium is gearing up for an exhibit they call “Shark Mission.” It’s an interactive exhibit designed to show the softer side of the infamously feared predator. Allowing people to see them swimming in the tank will hopefully help to put aside popular misconceptions and also educate.
Now bear in mind that when we say “interactive” we mean touch screens and tanks, not actually swimming with sharks. That’s Mr. Cordey’s job. There are even going to be some baby sharks on display in a shark nursery exhibit.
Many different species of sharks are becoming endangered due to all sorts of fishing and boat transportation. The Sydney Aquarium wants people not only to see and learn about these sharks first hand, but to also educate people on the perilous situation sharks in the wild now face. So while we don’t necessarily envy the tooth fairy’s job, we’re certainly glad he’s doing it.
Sharks naturally lose their teeth, but people don’t. If you have a missing tooth, contact Dr. Andrew Hall for a complimentary consultation. He provides the best technology and dental procedures for tooth restoration.
