A 5-foot 5-inch baby shark arrived at McKinley High School at 6:30 on Valentine’s Day morning.

Science teacher Channing Llaneza-Dominguez got the mako shark from Pop Fishing and Marine from Captain Greg Natli and the crew of the Fishing Vessel Sea Pearl. Llaneza-Dominguez wanted a shark so that her Marine Science students could participate in the lab and get involved in science.

Llaneza-Dominguez has experience on dissecting humans which she did as a lab technician in college for forensics study.

“€œI do not do it as often as before, but I do miss it,” she said.

This time she planned to dissect a shark.

“We had a lot of people just see the shark before the dissection. I even heard it went viral on Facebook.”

Llaneza-Dominguez wanted students to learn the similarity between humans and sharks, as well as to discuss marine adaptation and complete an evaluation on a shark. On February 15, the shark was dissected in front of 12 classes of students. These students came on their own time.

“I had my fourth period cut open the shark and harvest the organs, even hold it in their hands. The squeamish ones just watched. They enjoyed cutting up the stomach,”€ she said.

Most students felt disgusted at first, but then some thought it was pretty cool even though it stunk during the dissection.

“I just wanted students to have a great hands-on experience in science rather than see it swimming next to them while surfing,”said Llaneza-Dominguez.

Llaneza-Dominguez thought students enjoyed seeing the “beautiful majestic creature.”

She said, “For Hawaiian, they were able to see their amakua. I meant it as more of a scientific experience that students with a Hawaiian background could share instead of seeing one in the water next to them.”

A local student in biology class said the dissection was interesting because it is unusual to see and get so close to a shark. The local student commented that sharks have a small heart. He also commented on the similarities between human and shark anatomy. He felt fun and interesting of subject. He said he thought this was the best lesson and Llaneza-Dominguez is the coolest teacher.

Afterward, Mrs. Llaneza-Dominguez reserved the shark eyeballs, heart, jaw, and fin for students to view.