Researchers Spread Shark Love to Young Students
NSU researcher Derek Burkholder teaches homeschooled students how to set the bait during a recent shark-tagging expedition.
On a muggy August morning at Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Campus in Dania Beach, a group of children and their parents gathered at the docks, dodging biting flies.
WPLG TV 10 anchor Louis Aguirre interviews one of the students on her shark-tagging experience.
For this homeschooled crew – part of Surf Skate Science, a program tailored for non-traditional schoolers – the ocean would be their classroom for the day. The subject? Sharks.
Many of the children expressed fear of these often-misunderstood animals. But after learning about them, as well as catching, tagging, and releasing them, their opinions changed to ones of compassion and conservation.
NSU researcher Derek Burkholder and his team from NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute and the Save Our Seas Shark Center headed the shark-tagging mission. WPLG 10 news anchor Louis Aguirre and his film crew also captured the experience for their news program “Don’t Trash Our Treasure.”