Suspended invisibly with fishing thread and lining the chocolaty wood-paneled walls in Gordon Hubbell’s home are dozens of cream-colored shark jaws. The numerous jaws, crowded together in organized array and lacking even the slightest of movement, find a way of looking ferocious in their stillness. A pile of small teeth, all heaped in methodical arrangements, lie beneath smooth glass panes.
Welcome to the largest collection of shark teeth in the world.
So complete is Hubbell’s assortment and so vast is his knowledge that he’s even commanded the interest of the Discovery Channel.
“It’s amazing how little sharks have changed over time,” says the Floridian, whose obsession began over 40 years ago. “They have no natural enemy besides commercial fishermen.”
Enshrouded in protective glass is Hubbell’s prize set, the first complete fossilized mite shark teeth ever preserved, and includes several vertebrae. Hubbell says he accidentally came across this dazzling find – the 217 teeth are 5 million years old – in Peru.
But most of Hubbell’s collection is simply mailed to him by fishermen and researchers, like the Australian fishermen who call Hubbell in the middle of the night, hawking jaws from their catches or the researchers who send him bins of teeth.
While impressive in size, Hubbell’s collection is staggering in diversity. Sea foam blue, flame red and moss green, some of the teeth gleam like savage jewels. His largest tooth is 7 inches long, and the smallest requires a microscope.
Adjacent to the museum, Hubbell’s office holds dozens of blue plastic containers stuffed with shark jaws. “Hammerhead” reads one; “Bimini” reads another. Near the doorway is a cramped desk with a small green toothbrush – which he uses to clean the teeth – beside his pens. Not just a storage space, the office moonlights as a vast library, brimming with volumes of books including one Hubbell co-wrote.
And while his collection is intimidating, Hubbell vows he’d never get any closer to a shark than the jaws on his wall. “I don’t understand surfers,” he chuckles. “I would never swim with sharks. I know better than that.”