Sharkmania! The Buzz Saw Sharks of Long Ago Opens June 21
Sharks of yore, sharks galore, sharks to touch, sharks a bunch, shark art and such.
Imagine a fearsome shark with a circular saw where the usual jagged teeth might be. NOW imagine that shark as 24 feet long and weighing about 1,000 pounds.
If you had lived, say, 270 million years ago, you might have seen such a creature. These prehistoric whorl tooth, or “buzz saw,” sharks went extinct eons ago.
But lucky visitors to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium will get an in-depth look at these “cousins” of modern sharks with a special exhibit by Alaska artist Ray Troll. The Buzz Saw Sharks of Long Ago opens June 21 in the North Pacific Aquarium.
The Buzz Saw Sharks exhibition combines scientific research, art and whimsy for a fascinating bit of time travel to the world of the Helicoprion, or whorl tooth shark. The huge sharks once roamed the world’s shallow oceans, and in recent years, scientists unearthed rare specimens in the phosphate mines of Idaho. Troll fused art and research into an exhibit of fossils, murals and other works that will leave even the most blasé sharkwatchers breathless.
“Children will be awestruck by two large models of Heliocoprion, one suspended over the Community Tank in the North Pacific Aquarium and the second bursting through a wall with its mouth wide open,” said John Garner, the Zoo’s education curator. “Adults will enjoy the storytelling aspects of Ray Troll’s art.”
Although Heliocoprion is known as a shark, it actually belongs to a family of animals called chimeras that branched off from sharks 400 million years ago, Garner said.
The exhibit is particularly appropriate in the North Pacific Aquarium because some of Heliocoprion’s closest living relatives – spotted ratfish – can be found in the Community Tank.
SHARKMANIA! is meant to be fun for all visitors, but it has a serious side, too. Each of the programs stresses sharks’ role in the ocean’s ecosystems and the need for humans to work to save them.
A SHARKMANIA Summer
- Shark Touch Exhibit in which Brown-banded bamboo sharks and Epaulette sharks, the largest of which is about 3 feet long, join their cartilaginous cousins in Stingray Cove.
- New Megaladon shark jaw on display in the North Pacific Aquarium. It’s the just-right backdrop for jaw-dropping souvenir photos.