Victoria-UR, "Does this sound Orca-ish?" (Dori)

Today, we fear anything we don't understand. It's common to see that the biggest fears in life are death, aliens, insects, heights, and SHARKS!! OH MY!!

Movie poster for "Jaws" (duh-nuh---duh-nuh--duh-nuh-duh-nuh)

The reason we fear sharks is due to the lack of information we have on these predatory, prehistoric fish. One of the major reasons is also due to the movie "Jaws", or other similar movies like "Deep Blue Sea" and "Sharknado". It is because of this fear that many scientists decided to study the "killers from the deep". It is also the same reason I enjoy studying them so much.



Because of people's fears of these unknown "beasts" I wanted to study them more and help spread the word on why they aren't as scary as most people believe. The whole purpose of this project is to:
Determine what shark species call our local waters home.

The left shark is a male, showing the claspers that hang
 down farther from the anal fin than those on the female shark on the right.

To do this, I am collecting data from anywhere along the beach and intercoastal waterway about the shark species found, as well as their length at the precaudal notch (the little notch before their tail fin), the fork length (the space where the tail fin splits between the top and bottom half), and the total length ( while the tail is in a relaxed position like it would be in the water). Also, if at all possible, I will get the weight of the shark if they are small enough to be weighed, since there are a lot of sharks out there bigger than a person. I will determine if the shark is male or female (found at the anal fins, if the shark is male, there are claspers, which are extensions of the fin that follow down a length of the body after the fin should have ended, which a female does not have). All of this information will be recorded including the date and location caught.


This data will be collected from different locations and will include outside sources if the information can be acquired from Marine Discovery Center, Marine Science Center, the Daytona State Fishing Club, Cape Canaveral, and local fishers. Most of the outside sources will have their own method of catching the sharks and I will record that data as it comes in. Other than that, the specimen I collect will be caught using a fishing rod with circle hooks, and most likely mullet or some other common bait fish. The measurements will be taken using a tape measurer and a fish scale (for weighing).

Although it is completely possible for the biggies on the bottom to "eat" you,
tiger sharks do not attack people as much when they are full grown, and bull sharks are
truly only aggressive when they feel threatened or are juveniles.

Thanks to the Discovery channel's Shark Week, we have been able to learn and understand more as a whole population, not just the people who live near the coast like we do here in Florida. The information we receive helps reduce our fears, which is why I am glad to work with the scary fish that nobody wants to come anywhere near unless behind the thick bulletproof acrylic glass of an aquarium.


If you are interested in sharks, there is a documentary called "Sharkwater" on YouTube that is about the declination of sharks. It is slightly graphic in showing some of the shark killings that humans do, but extremely insightful if you want to change the way we treat these amazing and extremely important animals.

Thank you for your curiosity,
Victoria