A visit to the Chatham Shark Center

After listening to Dr. Marshall, I was inspired to take a trip to the Chatham Shark Center here in Chatham and learned a ton! Carcharodon carcharias, or Great White Sharks, span across most oceans in the world and are usually between 15 to 18 feet long, although the longest shark in recorded history was 20 feet. Great Whites are older than dinosaurs, appearing over 400 million years ago- 170 million years before dinosaurs. Great Whites are the largest predatory fish, have around 300 teeth, and they grow in rows, so whenever a shark looses a tooth the one behind it grows in and another tooth begins developing in the back. Sharks have six senses; the five that humans have as well as an electromagnetic field. They have what is called an lateral line down their sides filled with a fluid that reacts to vibrations in the ocean. Sharks seem to gravitate towards Chatham every summer in pursuit of seals. Recently the seal population has increased, drawing sharks here to the warm summer waters of the Cape. Because of this, scientists, the most well-known being Greg Skomal, have been studying sharks here; tagging them and taking samples. Transmitters are attached to the dorsal fin and are used to track the activity of the sharks. I love learning all these things about sharks, and I hope you enjoy learning these facts too!

In August, I attended the Sharkfest Gala at the Chatham Shark Center. The coolest part was after the silent and loud auctions when a scientist from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW),  an organization located in Yarmouth, Cape Cod,  gave a short speech about the organization and her job. We were expecting to hear Brian Sharpe, the Marine Mammal Research and Rescue manager, speak, but he had been deployed to Reykjavik, Iceland to help disentangle a humpback whale, which you can read about here. He sent Kristen Patchett, the stranding coordinator, to speak in his place. Patchett shared how IFAW helps all kinds of animals including not only sharks, whales, seals, and turtles but also tigers, dogs, and elephants, and how she works to rescue seals, sharks, and even dolphins. Kristen Patchett started her Marine Biology career as an animal care technician at the New England Aquarium, (the same place I took a Marine Biologist In Training course.) She gets to perform triage, exams, diagnostics, supportive care and much more! Both Kristen and Brian have such cool jobs, I would be love to work in a place like IFAW- I mean, flying to Iceland to save a whale on short notice, and getting to help seals and sharks every day? What could be better?
Anyway, the Gala was fantastic and I met some other really cool people. Be sure to keep up with the Chatham Shark Center, they have some really cool plans for the future!