PERSON:Eugenia Clark

Eugenie Clark was born on May 4, 1922. She died on February 25, 2015 at the age of 92. She was a U.S. ichthyologist, or a scientist who studies fish. She discovered that some shark species do not have to swim continuously to breathe. Some species of sharks are Wobbegongs, Cat-sharks, and Nurse sharks. She had the nickname “Shark Lady” for her love of sharks. Her love of sharks began when her mom took her to the aquarium. When she saw the sharks, she fell in love with them immediately and wanted to stay there all day with them. She was about nine years old.

I really liked that she wanted to save sharks and tried to do so by studying them and their habitats and their predators. Believe it or not, sharks’ top predators are humans because of their fishing nets. Some people wanted to make shark fin soup and some people still do. It is now illegal to possess or offer for sale shark fins in California.

A great book is Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist - you can buy it at Vroman’s or at many other bookstores!

And you can get postage stamps honoring her HERE!

Blog post by Amila Monkewitz