Over the summer, recent biology grad Rosamia Perez got to live every kid’s dream: hanging out with sharks every day. Through the organization Minorities in Shark Sciences, Perez was able to do research, educate others and even run an experiment at the Pritzker Marine Biology Research Center in Sarasota, Florida. Below, she tells us what it was like to work with these amazing creatures and dive into her dream of becoming a marine biologist.

Hello everyone! This past summer, I worked in Sarasota, Florida with Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS) at the Pritzker Marine Biology Research Center as an intern, and I got to do a variety of tasks as both a scientist and an educator. 

Through MISS, and the Pritzker Marine Biology Research Center, I got to help participate in the experiment being run, as well as conduct my own side project. The lab was studying the effects of the toxin caused by Karenia brevis, more commonly known as Florida’s red tide, on juvenile blacktip sharks. My personal project was inspired by the difficulties trying to catch sharks for our tanks. We often experienced sharks dying on the fishing line due to lactic acid poisoning. I wanted to understand why lactic acid buildup is so dangerous in sharks, and I wanted to analyze how it affected their brains, as it is the most important organ for maintaining bodily functions. I was one of six interns who was working at the lab this summer. All interns were tasked with lab duties like processing samples and caring for our captive sharks. Oftentimes during the transportation period between the gulf and our tanks, the sharks became stressed and stopped swimming, so we learned how to conduct shark CPR. This process involved placing a water hose into the shark's mouth to flush water over its gills and then moving the shark in its normal swimming pattern to induce normal swimming behavior. We also fed the sharks twice a week, monitored the water conditions of our tanks, and took weekly blood and muscle biopsies to ensure proper health. 

I studied the effects of lactate poisoning on shark’s brains, and had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Boca Raton, Florida where I was privileged to work in the Berlin Family Bioimaging Lab at Florida Atlantic University with Dr. Lauren Simonitis. She provided me with the wonderful resources to analyze my brains and taught me the process of histology. I got to take images on a really cool microscope that I used in my final presentation as well!

I also went out into the field to fish for sharks for both tagging purposes to track shark migration throughout the year and understand the local shark populations and for our experiment. I was able to learn the intricacies of how to handle live sharks, and then teach students those same techniques. During MISS’ annual sleepaway camp, we tagged and worked up approximately 25 sharks in the Cedar Key area. Pictures below are of a juvenile male blacktip and a female bull shark that was 9 feet long! Both of these sharks were tagged and released.

One of the fun things I got to travel for this summer was SharkCon! Held at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall, I got the chance to interact with over 1000 patrons spreading MISS’ mission, talking about their programs and opportunities and educating people of all ages about sharks. We had jaws, teeth, a complete shark skeleton, and shark skin on hand, plus a bunch of fun facts that we were able to present to the attendees. We also had some fun shark-related activities to cater to younger kids, allowing us to reach all age groups.

For my last day of the internship, I had the opportunity to present my work at the MISS office to scientists from across the country, other interns and even my own family! I was able to show them the culmination of the internship and my findings. Although my data was very preliminary with only 3 brains to work with, I did notice damage in all sharks. I have 2 more brains I collected that I need to process in the upcoming months, and I am working to collaborate with other scientists to hopefully gather more samples from sharks that die on the line within the next year. This adventure has allowed me to take another step closer to realizing my dream of becoming a marine biologist.