Sahm Marine Education Center
Opening Early 2020
Ocean Institute
Dana Point, California
www.oceaninstitute.org
This winter the Ocean Institute will complete renovations to a waterfront building that will feature a Horn shark touch tank, a shark nursery, and interactive exhibits and artifacts related to sharks all made possible by a $1 million grant from the Sahm Family Foundation.
Horn sharks are able to survive and breed in captivity, which provides us with an ideal opportunity to showcase their lifecycles, behaviors, and important role in our local ecosystem. Increased shark sightings in Southern California waters has stimulated curiosity and fear of these local predators. Providing public access to an innocuous member of the shark family is a safe and engaging way to educate students about all sharks.
The new Sahm Marine Education Center will provide hands-on, engaging educational experiences for students, teachers, parents and the general public that connect to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) principles.
Image: Jessica Brasher, Shark embryo
