CIS second graders ‘adopt a shark’ to support local shark research

Second graders at Cayman International School are raising money to adopt a shark.

Shark Conservation Cayman‘s Adopt-a-Shark programme aims to advance scientific understanding of these apex predators by tagging sharks and tracking their movements.

“They are really cool because they got big teeth and they swim really fast and they are quite cool,” said second-grader Rosco Newman.

He and other second-graders at Cayman International School are fascinated by sharks, and soon, they will have one to call their own – through Shark Conservation Cayman’s adopt-a-shark programme.

“We want to buy a tag because we want to make sharks, we want to protect sharks, protect our sea by having a shark, and we are going to see where it lays its babies so we can protect the babies,” said second-grader Nicole Kazakova.

The adopt-a-shark programme aims to use the funds for acoustic tags and GPS tags for shark tracking, and possibly an ultrasound machine to broaden its research.

“Sharks make our oceans look beautiful, and I know people are doing shark fin soup, and we just want to stop that and we are raising money, so we buy tags to locate what [sharks are] doing and where they lay their eggs,” said second-grader Jenna Parker.

The students told Cayman 27 that some shark populations are under threat and can also be misunderstood.

“I actually do believe that they are very kind because more humans kill sharks then sharks kill humans,” said Ms. Kazakova.

“They don’t really hurt people, people actually hurt them,” added second-grader Abby Brosnihan. “We want to tag it and see where it has babies and, make sure they stay protected.”

“CIS is the first school to run a fundraiser to support the program,” said Shark Conservation Cayman’s Johanna Kohler.  “We are excited for the grade 2 shark run. Good luck!”

The students are hosting a fun run on Thursday, 6 December at the CIS soccer field. Students will need a permission slip and a $5 donation to participate.

In other shark news, don’t forget to join Shark Conservation Cayman and Hurley’s Media Wednesday 28 November on Public Beach for a . It’s an absolutely free event.