Identifying White Sharks

With the support of Gates PTO, seventh grade students were able to learn about the exciting work being done by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.  Students heard about the history of the organization, the tremendous work that they do, and lots of the cool information that they have learned about White Sharks off the coast of Massachusetts. 

A large part of the presentation was about how researchers identify individual sharks based on individual markings, color patterns, and scars on the sharks.  Students were able to practice this skill accessing the logbook on the conservancy’s website where they have documented the more than 700 individual sharks that they have encountered in our waters.  As students learned, each individual shark does have a unique name which can be used to help researchers in other areas know if they are seeing the same sharks that have been documented somewhere else, ‘Sharkuterie’ seemed to be everyone’s favorite shark name.