When I went to Bald Head Island I had no idea I would have this cool experience. Today we visited the Bald Head Island Conservancy. We dissected a dogfish shark. It was fun, stinky and interesting. The most interesting part was the eyes. They are hard round balls. I saved mine in my glove to take home.
The dogfish shark lives off the coast of Cape Cod and travels down to North Carolina.The spiny dogfish shark is the most abundant shark. It is used by people as food, fertilizer, hide, pet food, and liver oil. Sadly some people cut off shark fins to make shark fin soup and they just kill the shark.
The dogfish shark is found worldwide in temperate and subarctic areas.The spiny dogfish shark bears live young. The time to make a baby shark called gestation period is the longest of any vertebrate, about 18 to 24 months. This is longer than elephants or whales. The dogfish shark can live up to 100 years.
- Did you know that sharks have a sixth sense? They can feel electric current and sense if another animal is within one mile. This plus their speed makes them the most efficient hunters.
- They have teeth that will regenerate. They can make thousands of teeth. My brother said that a shark tooth fairy must be very busy.
- There are only two chambers in their heart and the liver is the biggest organ because it is like an air bladder too . It keeps them afloat and produces oil.
There are 100s of species of sharks and many are endangered. This is mainly because of over hunting by people. Only 8 people a year are killed by sharks but people think it’s a lot more. Millions and millions of sharks are killed by people every year. Did you know you are more likely to be killed by a falling coconut than a shark? I wonder if Gilligan on Gilligan’s Island knew this?
My new friend Jimmy from the Bald Head conservancy likes Thresher sharks the best because their tail is as big as their body and they can smack their food with their tail to kill it. He also likes the tiger shark. I like nurse sharks the best because they are really big and I like the way they inhale to eat their food.
When we dissected the shark we saw poop before it was even made into poop. My sister, Mary Jordan, got squirted by eye juice and screamed but kept on going! She is brave.
We saw a video about a Goblin shark where its jaw popped out. This is another cool shark trick they can do. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh_HUIJkRzU
It was an awesome experience and a great way to learn more about sharks.
Go crazy for animals!