Recent sightings of sharks along Chatham beaches may bring scenes from Jaws to mind. While it is the same species of shark spotted along Chatham as in the movie, these are true great white sharks and not Hollywood hyperboles. It is true that this shark can detect a single drop of blood in 25 gallons of water, which can be up to 3 miles away. What isn’t true is that sharks crave the taste of human blood. Most human attacks from great whites are what’s called “sample biting,” when the shark will let go of the person after biting realizing that human meat is not what it wants to eat. Often attacks are because of ”mistaken identity” when sharks mistakes surfers or swimmers for prey. Because shark attacks are reality, you should be familiar with precautions to avoid one. Just remember what not to do with your “ABCDE’s”!

1. Alone. Do not swim alone, and don’t go too far from shore. Often sharks attack individuals and being alone can decrease your chance of getting lifesaving assistance.
2. Blood. Do not go in the water if you are bleeding or get injured while swimming.
3. Contrast. Sharks are attracted to contrast, like shiny jewelry which can be mistaken as fish scales or high-contrast clothing which can be mistaken for counter-shading like pattern of many prey items.
4. Dusk and Dawn. Avoid swimming at dusk, dawn, and night which are active times for sharks. Sharks can see well in low visibility conditions for people.
5. Eat. Do not swim where animals which sharks eat are. Avoid areas full of bait fish, fishing activity, seals and sea lions. Dolphins and sea birds circling may also be a sign sharks feeding nearby.

Always pay attention to local beach warnings and shark sightings as well. Respecting these animals as a predator is the first step to understanding their true nature. These animals are built to eat seals, sea lions, and fish; not to eat people. Great white sharks look for prey with the highest yield of energy. Sharks are about 85% muscle, while humans are only 40%; and it takes a lot to maintain a shark’s body. Seals and sea lions are the perfect meal because of their blubber and fat which yield a lot of energy. To white sharks, people are a skinny meal not worth the energy to consume. In order to identify prey, white sharks rely on visual cues like the body outline and color. Great white sharks often attack from below, swimming vertically at the prey, and mortally wounding it by force or biting. This behavior, which also includes breaching, is quite popular in South Africa while the sharks hunt fur seals.

Sharks go where the food goes, and the sharks spotted along Chatham were around an area populated with seals. With so many seal sightings this summer, it’s no wonder the sharks are nearby. Even if you don’t see a shark in the ocean this summer, you can have your own shark experience at the National Marine Life Center! Join us for our Fins & Flippers and Marine Animal Medical Mystery. Discover “mermaid’s purses” in our Beachcombers’ Table. These “mermaid’s purses” are egg cases for different species of sharks and rays. Stop by and learn how you can help with ocean conservation to protect ocean treasures like the Great White Shark.

Special thanks to Professor Heller-Borgerine’s Communications Class at the Cape Cod Community College for producing this video and helping to promote our educational programming!

Between school field trips, Fins and Flippers, Marine Animal Mystery, and a week-long junior tech program, kids of all ages have been coming through the doors of NMLC to learn about a variety of marine animals. I have especially enjoyed the Marine Animal Mystery program, during which kids take

Marine Animal Medical Mystery

on the role of a veterinary technician to help examine and treat a patient (rubber or stuffed) who has recently been admitted to the hospital. The kids seem to have a blast when they get all dressed up in scrubs and gloves and start taking measurements, analyzing x-rays, and figuring out the what medicines the patient needs. So far, our young vet techs have helped bring a cold stunned sea turtle back to health and rehabilitated a young seal pup who was dehydrated suffering from some stomach bugs. Over the coming weeks, participants in the Marine Animal Mystery will learn about and take the lead on the treatment of dolphins, sharks, sea birds, and manatees. I am looking forward to these mysteries being just as educational and entertaining as the past two have been.

The other interns and I have also been busy with several projects requiring tools ranging from crayons to scalpels. We have been planning activities and crafts for the upcoming Fins and Flippers programs that will be focusing on a variety of animals, and we are all starting to make some progress on our individual projects that we will be presenting at the end of the summer. Brie and I were presented with a bit more unusual project the other day when were asked to begin the process of removing meat from a deceased and frozen sea turtle as part of the process of preserving the skeleton. The experience was new for me and, though a bit stinky, very interesting. It will be exciting to see the progression and completion of these projects over the rest of the summer.

The past two weeks at the National Marine Life Center have been busy and full of promise. Just as the few days of sun we received were a hint of what the summer has in store, all that has gone on at NMLC recently has shown just how exciting this summer will be as things continue to heat up.

Teanna’s release in Wellfleet last Thursday was very successful. She did not hesitate at all to jump right into a marsh close to where she got herself stuck in a window well last fall, and it was great to see her back where she belongs. Unlike the red-bellied cooters released in May, Teanna was in need of rehabilitation from NMLC when she arrived in January, making this release a bit more special. She would not be swimming around the marshes of Wellfleet today without the help of the staff and volunteers at NMLC. As everything moves forward with the new hospital and we start getting patients in, more successful rehabilitations and releases of turtles, seals, and other marine animals are sure to follow.

The National Marine Life Center has been getting the word out about our goals to families from all across the cape in

The Discovery Center at NMLC

the past two weeks, and it has been great to see how much interest there is in the center. Last weekend we had an informational booth set up at the Sandwich Women’s Club “Touch a Truck” in Sandwich and this weekend we participated in the Cape Cod Maritime Museum’s Maritime Festival in Hyannis. Both events were great opportunities to give people an idea of what kind of work we do at NMLC. Kids and parents alike were fascinated by the preserved turtles and various whale artifacts that we brought along, and the marine animal arts and crafts were a big hit. Before we know it the Discovery Center at NMLC will be filled with families on summer vacation and kids excited to learn about all sorts of marine animals.

Though we may run into a couple more rainy days before it gets here, a bright summer certainly lies ahead at the National Marine Life Center!

Join us for an educational experience about helping sea life on Cape Cod! Featuring eco-friendly, fair trade, and local gifts and souvenirs. Also featuring exhibits and displays about marine animals, education programs, arts and crafts.

Special Events:

Saturday, April 16, 10 am – 2 pm: Spring Splash Open House. Join us for our Spring Open House! Explore the Discovery Center, make a marine animal spring basket, enjoy arts and crafts and games and refreshments. Meet Teanna-the-terrapin, cooter Catch-22 and our 8 cooter hatchlings. Tour our new marine animal hospital.
$5/person suggested donation, members FREE.
Donations help take care of endangered animals.

Monday – Friday, 10 am: Fins and Flippers Club. Marine animal-themed story time and arts and crafts! Different theme daily. All ages welcome, and most suitable for children ages 3-10.
Members: $3/child; Non-Members: $5/child
Become a member today and your child’s first Club participation is free!
Daily Themes:
Monday, 4/18 = sea turtles
Tuesday, 4/19 = seals
Wednesday, 4/20 = dolphins
Thursday, 4/21 = sharks
Friday, 4/22 = whales

Monday – Friday, 2 pm: Patient Update. Meet a member of our animal care staff and learn about marine animal rehabilitation and the wildlife patients we currently have in-house. Ask questions about our new marine animal hospital. Free.

JOIN US for a spring-time open house!

Saturday, April 16
10 am – 2 pm
120 Main Street, Buzzards Bay

Explore NMLC’s Marine Animal Discovery Center, make a marine animal spring basket, enjoy arts and crafts and games and refreshments, tour our new marine animal hospital. Visit Teanna the diamondback terrapin, Catch-22 the red-bellied cooter, and the eight red-bellied cooter hatchlings in “headstart”.

$5/person suggested donation, members FREE. Join as a member when you arrive and get in free! Donations and memberships help us take care of endangered animals, advance science, and educate youth.

All ages welcome. For more information, call 508-743-9888.

The National Marine Life Center’s Marine Animal Discovery Center will be OPEN
10 am to 5 pm daily during February Vacation Week (February 19-27)!

Join us for an educational experience about helping sea life on Cape Cod! Featuring eco-friendly, fair trade, and local gifts and souvenirs. Also featuring exhibits and displays about marine animals, education programs, arts and crafts.

Special Events:

Saturday, February 19, 10 am – 2 pm:  For the Love of Turtles Open House. Join us for our February Open House! Explore the Discovery Center, make a marine animal valentine, enjoy arts and crafts and games and refreshments. Meet Teanna-the-terrapin, cooter Catch-22 and our 8 cooter hatchlings. Tour our new marine animal hospital just as we’re about to “turn on the water”.
$5/person suggested donation, members FREE.
Donations help take care of endangered animals.

Monday – Friday, 10 am:  Fins and Flippers Club. Marine animal-themed story time and arts and crafts! Different theme daily. All ages welcome, and most suitable for children ages 3-10.
Members: $3/child; Non-Members: $5/child
Become a member today and your child’s first Club participation is free!
Daily Themes:
Monday, 2/21 = sea turtles
Tuesday, 2/22 = seals
Wednesday, 2/23 = dolphins
Thursday, 2/24 = sharks
Friday, 2/25 = whales

Monday – Friday, 2 pm:  Patient Update. Meet a member of our animal care staff and learn about marine animal rehabilitation and the wildlife patients we currently have in-house. Ask questions about our new marine animal hospital. Free.

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JOIN US for an Open House celebrating turtles and other marine life!

Saturday, Feb. 19
10 am – 2 pm
120 Main Street, Buzzards Bay

Explore NMLC’s Marine Animal Discovery Center, make a marine animal valentine, enjoy arts and crafts and games and refreshments, tour our new marine animal hospital as we’re about to “turn on the water”. Visit Teanna the diamondback terrapin, Catch-22 the red-bellied cooter, and the eight red-bellied cooter hatchlings in “headstart”.

$5/person suggested donation, members FREE. Join as a member when you arrive and get in free! Your entrance and membership donations will help us “turn on the water” and care for the marine animals we all love.

All ages welcome.  For more information, call 508-743-9888.

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Although my main task was the critter tank, I did more than just get that up and running. I helped volunteers like Bob with the Red Bellied Cooters. Linda taught me how to check the water quality. Wendy taught me a trick to make siphoning the water easier. When Len and Paula were in Alaska, I filled in for them. Sometimes I went out and got clean salt water from the pump house when a volunteer needed to be somewhere.  I even helped Joanne create Patty’s new set up with the trash cans and higher water level.

Catch-22

I’m sad to say my four weeks here is up but I really enjoyed my time here. Working with the turtles was a lot of fun and I met a lot of great people. I wish the interns luck with maintaining the Critter Tank and I hope the Discovery Center has a successful summer. Next year I will be going to college at Georgetown University in Washington, DC but I hope will have time to come by and visit NMLC to see what’s going on.

Open 10-5 daily through Labor Day.

Laura, Amanda, and Jackie get the seal display ready for visitors.

A newly reorganized Marine Animal Discovery Center opened today. Featuring marine animal specimens and displays about rescue, rehabilitation, and release, the Discovery Center teaches visitors about marine wildlife conservation.

A small gift shop offers eco-friendly and fair trade gifts and souvenirs, as well as educational toys and books.  All proceeds from the gift shop support NMLC’s rehabilitation, science, and education programs.

Laura checks out the new t-shirt designs.

Daily education programs during July and August offer additional ways for children of all ages to learn about marine animals.  For more information about our summer programming, click here.

We are pleased to welcome back the “Discovery Center Dream Team” – a fabulous group of students who are excited to welcome visitors and teach them about marine animals, strandings, rehabilitation, and the National Marine Life Center!  The “Dream Team” includes:

Laura Orca, Jackie Turtle, and Amanda Seal.

Discovery Center manager Laura Doucette is a junior at Johnson and Wales University majoring in International Hotel and Tourism Management.  Her customer service skills are evident whenever visitors walk in the door!  Laura started at NMLC as a youth volunteer helping with education, animal care, and the Discovery Center.  This is her third year as Discovery Center staff.

Discovery Center manager Jackie Niles just graduated with a marine biology degree from the University of Rhode Island.  Visitors appreciate her knowledge of and passion for marine animals as she shares information with everyone who walks in!  Jackie started at NMLC as a volunteer and then was an education intern.  This is her second year as Discovery Center staff.

Discovery Center manager Amanda Chilson is a junior majoring in biology at Roger Williams University.  She is very knowledgable about the ocean and marine animals and eager to share what she knows with visitors!  Amanda started at NMLC last year as a summer education intern.  This is her first year as Discovery Center staff.

Jackie, Laura, and Amanda check out the sea turtle display.