PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Last week, during St Maarten Shark Week, Nature Foundation staff visited several Elementary schools to educate children about sharks and their importance to both the natural and human environment. The Foundation visited the Oranje School, Seventh Day Adventist School and Helmich Snijders Hillside Christian School. The Shark Crew from the Nature Foundation taught about 400 students everything about sharks. The students learned about the different shark species, their biology and characteristics, 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 marine life, fisheries and our island, as we depend on our oceans. All school classes visited received a poster with the shark and ray species of Sint Maarten as a memento, thanks to the school children and staff for their enthusiasm.
