SMS 491: Sharks Form & Function

Dr. Walt Golet and Dr. Ian Bricknell co-teach a 2-credit class, Sharks Form & Function, at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center (DMC).

This course is run for one week in July where students live at the DMC and attend lectures & labs that expand their knowledge of shark and elasmobranch anatomy by looking at the evolutionary and comparative anatomy through the basic body plan of a shark. During the course, students are provided an opportunity to observe and dissect a recently obtained shark from the Gulf of Maine. Last year’s students were provided with a blue shark & porbeagle. This dissection is a part of their final assessment where students use their new skills to investigate an anatomical system in some detail and compare what they learned in the lectures to what they observed in the specimen dissection.

Students who enrolled in the Summer 2024 course were also able to take a trip offshore to deploy acoustic & conventional tags on sharks with Dr. Walt Golet and Matt Davis, a Marine Resource Specialist II from the Department of Marine Resources.

Register through the University of Maine’s Summer University.

Dr. Walter Golet: walter.golet@maine.edu

Dr. Ian Bricknell: ian.bricknell@maine.edu

For questions related to the DMC, contact dmc@maine.edu.