English students receive first-hand lesson in marine biology

LYNN – A group of Lynn English students experienced some of the pleasantries that come with being a marine biologist Friday, thanks to a group of researchers from UMass Dartmouth and a spread of unlucky sea creatures who involuntarily donated their bodies to science.Four marine biology researchers from UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) came to English for the second straight year, thanks to the connections of Special Education teacher Joe Skahan, who is friends with one of the researchers.The idea is to open the eyes of students to unique career opportunities that they may not have thought about in the past. The researchers each presented a short slideshow about their responsibility within the team, and also discussed the different paths that they took through school to become marine biologists.”It is an introduction to marine biology for the students, so they get an idea of what kind of education they will need,” said Skahan. “It is the second year that we have done it, and it has been pretty successful. The kids seem to like it.”While the slideshows were informative and interesting – the group used a video survey device to calculate the amount of scallops in the region at 370 million pounds – the real attraction for students were the demonstration tables set up across the hallway, featuring real sea creatures, complete with a fish market smell.Once the spectators overcame the initial shock of seeing dead sea creatures spread across the table, students eventually crowded the tables and seemed eager to participate.Biologists advised students on where to gut the fish, explaining what part of the body they were looking at, and what each portion of the fish could teach them about everything from eating habits to the depth of the water that they live in.Students learned to tag a fish for research purposes, and were given an opportunity to examine smaller shellfish and microscopic sea creatures under a microscope.The reaction to the activities ranged from excitement to disgust – many students were upset to see that the fish were dead – but no matter the opinion, no one seemed too eager to turn away from the tables.”It was gross, I don’t like to touch that stuff,” said junior Samantha Harrie.Fellow junior Rob Boynton disagreed, and said the event was helpful because he wanted to become a marine biologist after high school.”I want to do this as a job, I think this is cool,” he said. “It is somewhat helpful and informative. I like that we got to dissect the fish.”Most colleges in the area offer marine biology courses, but researchers said having a foundation in biology, chemistry and math is essential to succeeding in the profession.