Students gain inside view during shark dissection

The metal blade enters with a squish, slicing cartilage and causing formaldehyde to squirt out.

The first cut feels inhumane. But then they start to enjoy it.

Before long, fins are being sliced and eyeballs are popping out.

Welcome to shark dissecting in Rhonda Young's sixth-grade class at Cape Christian School.

The 10 students were decked out in plastic goggles and too-large latex gloves that sag at the fingertips. They were armed with scalpels, scissors, probes and magnifying glasses.

A few snips of the scissors and six 2-foot-long dogfish sharks were split open from stem to stern.

The liver was the students' first discovery. Twelve-year-old Nikki Graham found something familiar in the organ's texture.

"It feels like the goo you buy at the dollar store," she said.

The operation was led by Dr. Mike Delgado, a former assistant biology professor at Southeast Missouri State University.

The students' initial comments of "nasty" and "gross" soon became shouts of "cool" and "awesome" as Delgado led them through the sharks' interiors.

Cutting open the sharks' stomachs is a treasure hunt for the students. In past years, they've found everything from squid tentacles to baby sharks.

The most exciting thing this year was a chunk of fish meat and bone that 11-year-olds Steven Prost and Brittany Graham found in their shark.

"I didn't think I was going to be this brave," Brittany said as she slit her shark's jaw to get to its heart. "We've definitely gotten up close and personal with them."

Young's classes have been dissecting sharks for four years now.

"This really brings science to life," Young said. "It's a whole different ballgame when you actually have a scalpel in your hand."

cclark@semissourian.com

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