University of Southern Miss takes a bite out of Shark Week

Sunday kicked off the Discovery Channel’s notorious ‘Shark Week’ and the University of Southern Mississippi decided to swim into the frenzy by creating their very own ‘Shark Week.’

The goal for USM’s ‘Shark Week’  is to inform others of the research conducted in Ocean Springs at the Gulf Coast Research Lab.

The Mississippi Sound has some of the greatest shark diversity in the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is home to over nine different species of sharks, but other species do migrate in.

Normally, USM celebrates ‘Shark Week’ a little bit differently, but this year, due to COVID, their summer camp for kids, Shark Fest, was cancelled and their summer field program had to be made virtually. School of Ocean Science Interim Director Jill Hendon said, “Normally during Shark Week, we have a lot of public outreach. We have a big event at the New Orleans Aquarium as well as many events around here with the library. Those have not been possible because of COVID so we are trying to do an extra media push so we can reach out to those people.”

To take a dive into USM’s ‘Shark Week,’ check out the USM School of Ocean Science and Engineering and the USM Shark Research Facebook pages. They will be posting fun facts, quizzes, and crafts to educate and entertain.