A Special Meeting: Dr. Eugenie Clark of Mote Marine Laboratorium

As a CEO of Save Our Seas Foundation, we get some great opportunities. One of those was a visit to Professor Emerita Eugenie Clark, also known as the ‘Shark Lady’.

Genie, as she prefers to be callled, has an impressive career. In 1955, she was is the Founding Executive Director of Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida (formerly Cape Haze Marine Laboratory), where she is now Director Emerita. She was the Principal Investigator of 45 grants, contracts from government and private scientific organizations for the study of the behavior, ecology and taxonomy of fishes. Current research is on behavior of sand fishes, feeding behavior of whale sharks, the effects of human activities on coral reef environments, and behavior of deep sea sharks recorded from 71 deep submersible dives. In 1955, the Mote Marine Lab consisted of one small shed… The complex is now 10,5 acres and has 195 employees and a large aquarium, and is famous for its groundbreaking research and support to countless projects and researchers.

Genie wrote 165 articles in scientific journals and popular magazines.

Times photo: John Pendygraft

Just before her 90th birthday on May 4th this year, this amazing lady will make a month-long field trip to Indonesia to study sand perches…. And she just published an update edition of her book ‘The Lady and the Sharks’ (Peppertree Press, Sarasota, Florida).

Eugenie has honored Save Our Seas by again being an Honorary Advisor in 2012. We discussed her view on shark conservation. To her, finning bans and eduction and awareness are most important factors in shark conservation. For us, this was a remarkable meeting, and we hope to see Genie again in Fort Lauderdale, at the opening of the SHARK Exhibition in the Museum of Art. We are already looking forward to it!