Baby Great White Shark Makes Appearance At Westhampton School

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — "Jaws" just got a little close to home for students in the Westhampton Beach and Southampton school districts — who got up close and personal with a baby great white shark during a lesson this week.

At Southampton High School, marine science teacher Gregory Metzger laid out the shark — which was recently found deceased on the shores of Fire Island— on a table in the school’s parking lot for students to examine, a release said.

Aside from describing the anatomy of the shark, he also discussed the field research he conducts with his team as part of the South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center’s Shark Research and Education Program, where he serves as chief field coordinator.

Students learned how SOFO’s research team catches, tags and releases sharks off the shores of Long Island, and about the research they are conducting to understand the population dynamics of all large coastal sharks along the South Shore, the release said.

The students also witnessed a necropsy of the shark performed by Dr. Harley Newton, head of aquatic health at the New York Aquarium.

The shark made its way to Westhampton Beach High School the next day, where science teacher Matthew Berkhout, who is also a member of the SOFO shark program, discussed the shark’s anatomy and SOFO’s research with both high school and elementary school students, and opened up the discussion for student questions, the districts said.

The shark will soon be shipped to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries’ Narragansett Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island for further analysis.