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Shark Jaws and School Kids

A Little Story on How to Empower Young Minds to Care About Sharks.

By Jenna DeedyPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Tiger Shark

For the last few weeks, I have been working on Saturdays at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. My job is to educate people about the various animals that call the ocean their home and answer their questions if I can do so. However, one of my favorite things to do at work is using bio-facts at the various animal habitats to educate people about the species that call ocean and freshwater habitats home. This is because as someone who grew up learning visually, I believe people will make a difference in this world if they see things with their own eyes. We can do this by seeing live animals at a habitat at a zoo, or aquarium, and with the bio-facts, they get to see during their visit to either a zoo or an aquarium. Here, well, from my personal experience, it’s really both.

If I had a favorite bio-fact that I enjoy using to educate people about our oceans, it would have to be the tiger shark jaw because as someone who got to work with sharks as a SeaWorld camper, I believe sharks are one the most misunderstood animals on the planets. For centuries, people have created this image of sharks as being “man-eaters”. It’s believed that shark attacks on people occur when they mistook human swimmers for sea turtles and marine mammals such as seals, and cetacean calves. Humans are not part of a shark’s natural diet out in the wild.

What I like to do during my shift at the aquarium is to get out the shark jaw and bring it downstairs to our “Science of Sharks” exhibit. It’s a small exhibit that has three habitats for our smaller shark species, since there are no sharks living at the Giant Ocean Habitat. We can find the only other sharks that live in the aquarium in our shark and stingray habitat, which is upstairs from the little shark exhibit. There, I stand before a screen that highlights a National Geographic-funded shark survey project by a New England-based resident shark expert waiting for curious minds to check out the jaw of an actual tiger shark. Before long, families check out the jaw in my possession with questions that I might not answer. Yet, this was when the magic all begins.

One time when I was at the exhibit during my shift, a small youth group came by to check out the shark jaw. When they did, they asked what species of shark the jaw belonged to and I answered them by saying:

This here is the jaw of a 17-foot long, 1,400-pound tiger shark that is found in all of Earth’s tropical oceans. If you look behind where I am, you can actually see an actual model of the animal whose jaw I am presenting today. They feed on various species of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, sea turtles, and marine mammals”.

Soon, I let members of the group touch the teeth but not before telling them to be careful because they’re sharp. When one kid asked me why the shark’s jaw had so many teeth, I told them it was because the animal had six rows of teeth during their lifetime. If one tooth were to either fall off or get damaged, another tooth will emerge in its place. As I continued to share all I knew about sharks, more people, including families, came over to ask me about the shark jaw, the species it belonged to, and sharing facts about sharks. In response to the curious crowds that comprised all kids and parents, I quizzed them about their own knowledge of sharks.

I first quizzed the crowd with various true or false questions about general facts about sharks. For example, one true or false question would focus on how important sharks are in the ecosystem, which is something only a few people would know. However, ask the kids in the crowd, and most of the time, they will say it’s true, which to me, speaks volumes about how far we have come in educating kids about shark conservation not just at schools and on social media, but also at zoos and aquariums, too. While there were a few kids who didn’t know that sharks in the ocean meant a healthy marine ecosystem, it was a well known feeling to know that kids realized sharks were not “man-eaters” after all.

Moving on from true or false questions, I quizzed the kids with multiple-choice questions to continue challenging their knowledge. Many of the questions comprising questions regarding shark evolution, shark species found in New England waters, shark conservation, and more. Every time the kids answered the question correctly, I get amazed about what young minds can do when we empower them to care about marine wildlife. We may have a long way, but it’s a good start.

If you guys wonder what kinds of trivial questions I ask them, here are just a few of the many I ask when I challenge their young minds:

  • True or False-Whale sharks are the largest living species of shark in the world.
  • What species of sharks can we find in waters off the New England Coast?
  • True or False-Sharks first appeared in the fossil record about 450 million years ago.
  • What type of animals do great white sharks feed on (Hint: Not people!)?
  • Why are several shark species endangered out in the wild?
  • What can you do to help protect endangered shark species?

And the list can go on from there.

After I get done quizzing the kids, I let them ask me some questions. Here are just a few examples of questions that I get from the kids regarding sharks at the aquarium:

  • Why are there no longer sharks living at the Giant Ocean Habitat?
  • Where do you guys keep sharks at the aquarium?
  • Why do you guys keep smaller sharks rather than the bigger ones?

While the Giant Ocean Habitat used to house larger shark species years ago, the last shark species to live at the habitat, which were the much-smaller bonnethead sharks, passed away this past year from old age, which happens in both the wild, and in human care.

*If only I had some little goodies to give out to the kids for each correct answer*.

wild animals
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About the Creator

Jenna Deedy

Zoo and Aquarium Professional, Educator, Cosplayer, Writer and B.A. in Psychology whose got a lot to share when it comes to animals, zoos, aquariums, conservation, and more.

Instagram: @jennacostadeedy

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