PHILIPSBURG:---Last week, during St Maarten Shark Week, Nature Foundation staff visited several Ele-mentary schools to educate children about sharks and their importance to both the natural and human environment. The Foundation visited the following five schools; Sister Regina, Leonald Connor, Learning Unlimited, Oranje School and the Ruby Labega School. The Shark Crew from the Nature Foundation taught about 600 students everything about sharks. The students learned about the different shark species, the importance of sharks for our reefs and tourism, depletion of sharks and why they need our help.
The kids were very enthusiastic about sharks and the marine life, they learned that you shouldn’t be afraid for sharks; sharks are in no way dangerous for humans. Humans kill about 100 million sharks every year, if we continue many shark species will go extinct. Oceans without sharks will have unpredictable and presumably negative impacts for ma-rine life, fisheries and our island, as we depend on our oceans. The school visits were part of the DCNA ‘Save our Shark’ project funded by the Dutch National Postcode Lottery.
