This week, I had the chance to attend an outreach event. It’s been a while since I’ve been to one, and they really the most enjoyable part of my job as Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant’s communications coordinator. This week is Shark Week, and our fisheries specialists from Mississippi State University Extension Service were in Gulf Shores at the Gulf State Park Pier sharing their shark smarts at a Shark Week event.
I don’t know about you, but every time I’m in coastal Alabama, in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach or even Dauphin Island, I feel like I’m on vacation. I haven’t been to Gulf Shores since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but on Wednesday, I was on the Foley Beach Expressway headed to Shark Week. I couldn’t have been happier.
After first ending up at the Gulf State Park Campground (I’m not exactly sure why my GPS led me there) I found the Gulf State Park Pier. With shade and with a breeze, it was a perfect location for a Shark Week event.
Once I got my Shark Week armband (for $3), I had access to the area where the activities were held. Children were making shark puppets. The Alabama Marine Resources Division had a touch tank with more than a half dozen stingrays. Our fisheries extension specialists were talking to visitors about shark teeth and sawfish as festgoers picked up fact sheets and shark stickers.
They also had a giant “How big are you compared to a shark?” banner. People could lie down on it to see which type of shark was as long as they were tall. It started with the cookiecutter shark at 1 foot 10 inches and ended with the tiger shark (15 feet) and the hammerhead shark (16 feet).
At one booth, Matthew Jargowsky was giving a presentation about different shark and ray species and what makes them unique. You could see slides on a large TV screen above the booth as he talked into a microphone and rattled off fish facts while holding up shark specimens and jaws. After the presentation, I heard one lady say to him (and Alena Anderson, an intern who was also in the booth teaching people about sharks), “I’m glad you know so much about sharks.” I have to agree that their knowledge is impressive.
The day before, they dissected a stingray, and on Thursday, they talked about what sharks eat and where they travel. The marine fisheries team participated three days of the five-day event.
The last booth of the Shark Week event offered shark tattoos and a scavenger hunt worksheet. I took a worksheet, which led me down the pier to find answers to 10 questions about sharks. A lady stopped me at the entrance to pay the $2 fee (it’s $9 if you want to fish, and quite a few people were fishing). I gave her $2, but when she went to put an armband on my wrist, she noticed I had already paid for Shark Week. Turns out, the pier was included with the event. So, I guess Shark Week really only cost $1!
Walking down the pier, I saw signs with facts about sharks and found all 10 answers to the Sharks of the Gulf Scavenger Hunt questions. I learned that bull sharks like fresh water and salt water, finetooth sharks hunt in schools, blacktip sharks make spinning leaps when attacking, and more. By the time I made it back to the scavenger hunt booth, the event had ended. I guess I’ll never know what the prize was for completing the worksheet.
The MSU marine fisheries crew was still there, though. I took a photo of the group and snapped a few beach shots on my way to the parking lot. Then, I got on the road and headed back to Mississippi. I was happy to have enjoyed the day while learning some things about sharks from our extension specialists and adding photos to our Sea Grant photo library.
Meet the author
Melissa Schneider
Communications Coordinator
Melissa Schneider coordinates public information, educational media and communication services for Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant. Some of MASGC's communications projects include our website, social... Read more
Phone: 228-818-8838
Email: [email protected]